The Concordian - November 3rd, 2015

Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper

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VOLUME 33, ISSUE 10 | TUESDAY, NOV. 3, 2015

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5 . p s w e N

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g n i t c e p x e is

E R A C Y A D U CS

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

LIFE

ARTS

MUSIC

SPORTS

OPINIONS

Vegan fest is coming

Revival of the Roaring ‘20s

Wolf Parade still potent

Stingers lose to Carabins

Church volunteers in local school p. 17

p. 6

p. 12

p. 13

p. 15

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theconcordian

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015 NEWS EDITOR GREGORY TODARO news@theconcordian.com

NEWS CITY CHLOE RANALDI Staff writer

Ecofiscal Commission: use tolls, reduce traffic A report from Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission recommended putting tolls on Montreal’s bridges to ease congestion. The study showed that congestion pricing would encourage more people to take public transit and would be environmentally beneficial for the city. According to the CBC, congestion costs Montreal an estimated $1.7 billion annually. The recycled revenue of congestion pricing would generate other economic benefits for the city.

Expert for Turcotte defense crossexamined On Monday, the Crown continued its crossexamination of psychiatrist Dominique Bourget, an expert witness for the defense of Guy Turcotte. Bourget testified that Turcotte suffered from severe adjustment disorder and should not be held criminally responsible for the first-degree murders of his two young children.

According to The Canadian Press, the Crown prosecutor contended that Bourget’s first evaluation of Turcotte happened 11 months after the night of murders.

Montreal hosts homelessness conference The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) is holding a three-day conference in Montreal to provide housing for 20,000 homeless people over the next three years. Over 800 people from across Canada are said to be attending the conference. According to a survey held by the CAEH this past year, there are 3,000 homeless people in Montreal. According to CTV Montreal, there will be 150 speakers at the conference discussing achievable plans to reduce homelessness in the city and help fully reintegrate them into society.

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VIGIL

Vigil in support of aboriginal women

Hundreds gathered to speak out against the treatment of native women DANIELLE GASHER Staff writer Hundreds gathered outside Place des Arts on Thursday to show their support for aboriginal women.

The smell of candle smoke filled the space of the vigil as attendees lit candles and lanterns to pay their respects. The vigil took place on the corner of Sainte-Catherine and JeanneMance and was organized by Idle No More Québec, Amnesty International, the Regroupement des Centres d’Amitié Autochtones du Québec, Native Montreal, Quebec Native Women and Montreal Aboriginal Network.

In response to the recent allegations made against Surêté du Québec officers in Val d’Or, the vigil was a cry for justice and for immediate change as well as a celebration of the lives of all the missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada.

Allegations of sexual and physical abuse towards aboriginal women in Val d’Or were brought to light two weeks ago by an investigative report by Radio Canada’s T.V. show Enquête. Since the show aired, more aboriginal women have come forward with

their experiences.

The investigation has been taken out of the hands of the SQ and into those of Montreal police. However, the allegations are driving citizens, activists and organizations to put pressure on the government on the provincial and federal level to launch a national independent investigation into the affair.

Ghislain Picard, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, believes it is up to citizens, officials and the government to take responsibility and to rectify to issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women. “Let’s stand together, indigenous peoples and non-indigenous peoples alike, to make sure that the dust doesn’t settle too quickly,” said Picard to the crowd of supporters.

Indigenous human rights activist Ellen Gabriel said enough is enough. “This is happening right across Canada, right across the United States, right across the world. We should not accept any more inquiries that are led by government,” she said to the crowd. “The inquiry should be [conducted by] an independent body.”

“This is the kind of thing we saw in 1990, where the Sûreté

Hundreds gather at Place des Arts on Thursday.

Photo by Andrej Ivanov. du Québec were above the law,” said Gabriel, referring to the Oka Crisis of 1990. The Oka Crisis occurred after a land dispute between the town of Oka and the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, and became heavily mediated as protests began. The Mohawk people created a barricade to block the area they were protecting from becoming a golf course. The Sûreté du Québec responded to the barricade aggressively, using tear gas canisters and concussion grenades.

Vigil attendees bundled together, holding up posters with faces and names of missing and murdered aboriginal girls and women, and re-lit their candles repeatedly as persistent and powerful winds blew them out.

Groups such as the Buffalo Hat

Singers chanted between speakers, in honour of lost women.

“We are all here for one very specific reason: we want a public national and widened inquiry about the violence against aboriginal women,” said Philippe Meilleur, executive director of Native Montreal, to the attendees.

“We are seeking truth, demanding credible and public processes that will make the truth come to light, and hopefully justice will follow.”

For Mélissa Mollen-Dupuis, co-founder of Idle No More Québec, the situation in Val d’Or has affected her on a personal level. “It’s not a political case for me, it’s not a work case, it’s a real-life situation for me and for my baby,” the Innu activist told The Concordian. “I’m scared for her every day.”

LECTURE

The ethics of dying with dignity Concordia hosted a medical ethics conference SANDRA HERCEGOVA Staff writer At the Loyola Conference Centre on Thursday, Hazel Markwell—who worked in clinical ethics for over 20 years and is now the director of the St. Joseph’s Health Centre and St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto— tried to define what exactly dying with dignity really means.

This was the latest conference of the Loyola Public Lecture Series on Ethics in Society which covered the ethics of physician assisted suicide, euthanasia and terminal palliative sedation.

The lecture series was hosted by Concordia’s Advancement and Alumni Relations and the Department of Theological Studies.

Markwell said the problem is that as a society we often disagree when it comes to ethical issues. “Ethics is all about decisions, studying values and about the right and the wrong,” she said.

“We have different notions of the good and our values vary greatly. The way each person views wrong from right varies as well.”

She said it is important to recognize how interconnected we are as humans before we can start rationalizing physician assisted deaths. “Conscience is an innate, universal aspect of the human being and that is why issues of conscience are important in this discussion,” said Markwell.

Markwell then asked the audience to close their eyes and to think of only three things that they need to make life meaningful. Then, take one away.

Would life still be meaningful?

Now, take another one away.

“This is what dying people in in-

Clinical ethics expert Hazel Markwell at Concordia.

Photo by Andrej Ivanov. tensive care are experiencing,” she said.

Markwell also spoke about the two principle goals of medicine: caring and curing and relief of suffering. She believes people should change their concept of health and life.

In her talk, Markwell covered three methods in assisted suicide for patients in intensive care. First, physician assisted suicide, which is when a physician is authorized to help the

patient commit suicide. The second is euthanasia, which is when a dose of lethal injection is given at request. Finally, there is terminal palliative sedation which is when the doctor makes the patient become unconscious in order to stop them from feeling pain.

When dignity is concerned, what is the best solution for the patient? This is a question Markwell said the medical community is still struggling with.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

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POLITICS

Former Canadian MP back at McGill

After four years in Parliament, Laurin Liu is going to finish her degree at McGill

NATION JESSICA ROMERA Copy editor

Trudeau to attend four summits in first month as PM

LAURA MARCHAND Staff writer @Marchand_L On May 2, 2011, Laurin Liu was in Outremont, watching the ballots come in.

The NDP had pooled its resources into ridings it thought it could win, and her own riding was not one of them. Rivièredes-Mille-Îles, nestled on Montreal’s north shore, had been a Bloc Québécois stronghold for years. The NDP was a distant third- or fourth-place party.

Her goal hadn’t been to run for a seat. She was still completing her undergrad at McGill—a double major in history and cultural studies—when a party organizer approached her in 2011, asking if she wanted to put her name on a ballot.

She agreed, not thinking the NDP would manage to win in Quebec. She was 20 years old.

“There was very, very little chance that we would win the seat,” explained Liu. “There was virtually no campaign.”

It was there, at the counting station, that she got a text message saying she was leading in Rivière-des-Mille-Îles.

She won with nearly 50 per cent of the popular vote.

“It was a pretty special night,” said Liu. “I remember we had a party in downtown Montreal at the Rialto, for all the volunteers and the staff who worked on the campaign. It was pretty incredible to be there with so many other candidates who had just learnt that they had been elected in the Orange Wave.”

Liu would later be dubbed one of the “McGill Four”—four McGill students who had been unexpectedly elected to Parliament as part of the NDP’s sudden gains in Quebec. She became the youngest woman elected in Canadian history.

However, Liu was suddenly thrown from student life to parliamentary life. No one had been expecting a win in her riding, and this left her rushing to prepare for Parliament.

“There were a few really hectic weeks, setting up an office, hiring staff,” said Liu. “My first year was really spent meeting as many constituents as pos-

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Justin Trudeau, who will be officially sworn in on Wednesday, is planning to attend four international summits during his first month as Prime Minister, according to The Globe and Mail, the first of which will be held in Turkey for the G20 leaders’ summit.

Trudeau will also be attending climate talks in Paris as well as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit along with a gathering of Commonwealth leaders.

Manitoba to reform protection orders legislation

Laurin Liu was the youngest woman ever elected to Parliament. Photo courtesy of Laurin Liu. sible, letting them know we offered services at the MP’s office, and that I was available and accessible to them.”

As an NDP parliamentarian in 2011, Liu and the other newly-elected students were joining a diverse caucus, with over a dozen MPs under the age of 30 and 40 per cent female representatives overall. Liu said she looked forward to working with two of her role models—MPs Megan Leslie and Nicki Ashton—who she describes as being “two parliamentarians who surely didn’t look like the status quo, who were female, and were relatively young.” “[Going to Parliament] was really something,” said Liu. “It was really exciting to be there with Jack [Layton] as well, to be in caucus as a member of the Official Opposition. I think we really did manage to change the face of Parliament, and I think we were the literal embodiment of the

There were a few really hectic weeks, setting up an office, hiring staff ... my first year was really spent meeting as many constituents as possible.

— Laurin Liu, former MP

change people wanted to see.”

Which is why, going into the 2015 general election, Liu was confident that she would hold her seat. “We had done a lot of work over the past four years, just being on the ground and being present,” she said. Over the course of her career, Liu was well-known for sounding the alarm over the muzzling of scientists and tabling the Intern Protection Act, which offered protections for unpaid interns, such as giving them the right to refuse dangerous work.

And while that did translate into support at the polls, it fell short of what Liu needed to return to Ottawa: she lost her seat by a 1,500 votes to Liberal candidate Linda Lapointe.

Liu believes that over the course of the federal campaign, mistakes were definitely made by the party.

“We weren’t able to properly contrast the NDP with the Conservatives, in terms of showing how the Liberals actually supported a lot of Conservative policies,” said Liu, citing areas such as tax breaks for large corporations and the Keystone XL pipeline. “In terms of explaining to Canadians who we are, and what we stand for … that’s something we need to keep doing in the

next few years, to build the party and regain seats in Quebec.”

And while Liu says she was very proud of the campaign they ran, she doesn’t sugar coat the effect the results had on her.

“It was pretty devastating, to be honest,” said Liu, with a small laugh. “It was really tough being in the campaign office with all the volunteers who put their heart and soul into the campaign, who had gone door-knocking with me in the sweltering heat … it was really hard to accept that we had lost the riding.”

Liu spent four years, five months, and 18 days as an MP. Now, she is planning to return to McGill and finish what’s left of her undergraduate degree. When asked if she planned to return to politics, she believes it’s too soon to say anything for sure.

“I do want to continue fighting for the causes that are important to me,” said Liu. “There’s lots of opportunities available, so we’ll see what the future holds … I do love politics and I think there’s a lot of work to be done still, and I would like to continue as an activist and doing advocacy work.”

Those who were fans of her work can expect to see more of Liu in the public sphere. “I’m sure you’ll see me on the trail on some future campaign,” she said.

After a young woman was murdered by her boyfriend in Winnipeg, the provincial government will be reforming legislation so that people can obtain protection orders more easily, according to Global News. The victim, Selena Rose Keeper, had a protection order request against her boyfriend denied just five months before she was killed. He has since been charged with second-degree murder. The government will be asking for feedback from people who have applied for a protection order to reform the Domestic Violence and Stalking Act, Global News reported.

Medical student pleads not guilty to uttering threats A former medical student from Dalhousie University in Halifax has pleaded not guilty to two charges of uttering threats with intention of causing bodily harm. Stephen Gregory Tynes also stands accused of “one count of engaging in threatening conduct,” reported the CBC. He allegedly told his psychiatrist that he planned to shoot over a dozen people and then later shoot himself. He was arrested in August after his apartment was searched and police found two rifles and almost two thousand rounds of ammunition. Tynes has been released on bail but must stay at his father’s home.

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theconcordian

WORLD SAVANNA CRAIG Staff writer

China abolishes one child policy The Communist Party of China announced recently that they have repealed their one child policy. The law was established in 1979.

The Chinese government estimates that this law lowered China’s population by an estimated 400 million births and it has also contributed the annual reduction of approximately 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other gases.

According to Vice News, this choice is part of China’s new five-year plan, which will lead China’s economic policy until 2020.

“Outside effect” caused Sinai plane crash On Sunday, a video was released by the Kurdish regional government, showing U.S. military and Kurdish forces raiding a prison in northern Iraq, reports The Guardian.

The prison, located in the town of Hawija, was under control by Islamic State militants. The raid saved 70 hostages, 20 of which are members of the Iraqi security forces. This raid marks the first time the U.S. engages in direct ground combat in the Middle Eastern nation since the beginning of the war against ISIS in August of 2014.

Saudi prince charged with drug trafficking Apparently even princes smuggling two tonnes of drugs onto private jets are not above the law. Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz was among five Saudis arrested in Lebanon on Oct. 27. A total of 10 people were charged with drug smuggling after being caught transporting nearly two tons of drugs— Captagon capsules, a type of amphetamine, and cocaine. The drugs were about to be loaded onto their private jet when they were discovered. This is the largest ever recorded drug seizure at Beirut’s airport, according to Al Jazeera.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

CAMPUS

Combating campus sexual violence Concordia to hold bystander intervention workshop on Nov. 4 SAVANNA CRAIG Staff writer Concordia will be holding a bystander intervention workshop on Wednesday, Nov. 4 to generate awareness of sexual violence and how those witnessing it can and should react.

This workshop, being held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in H-7.67 of the Hall building, will help educate those to discourage rape culture and provide a safe environment to support victims.

Concordia’s Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) coordinator, Jennifer Drummond, said these events are important to help contribute to a culture where survivors can feel safe and their stories can be taken seriously. She also said the bystander intervention workshops will not only help create more awareness around the subject, but it will put the audience in different scenarios to help demonstrate how to deal and intervene when put in a situation of sexual violence.

In the past, SARC held workshops in Concordia once every semester by request only.

Starting this semester, SARC has started holding bystander interventions on consent and what constitutes sexual violence every fall exclusively to student athletes and coaches. “These workshops are important for athletes—not necessarily due to a problem of past sexual violence, but due to their status within the university,” Drummond said. “Athletes are seen as role models representing their school, so they should receive education on the culture and awareness of sexual violence.”

Social justice activist Julie Lalonde will be speaking at the workshop. Lalonde began her involvement with the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre, which sparked in light of a notorious sexual assault involving a female student that was sent to the hospital due to a violent sexual assault. The sexual assault took place on campus. Lalonde said the situation “really highlighted the gap in services at Carleton.” These were gaps Lalonde wanted to fill to improve the services and knowledge of sexual violence to those in the community, targeting these university students.

“We know, statistically, that campuses have incredibly high rates of sexual violence. Traditionally, campus-

Photo by Kelsey Litwin. es have been very resistant to the idea of even talking about sexual assault on their campus, let alone working towards it,” said Lalonde. She added that the way many campuses have dealt with sexual violence has only made this problem worse.

Lalonde said the best thing for a bystander to do when witnessing a sexual assault is to check in with the person.

You should ask if the person with them is bothering them or if they want you to wait with them until they get a cab home.

Lalonde told The Concordian that if you are a witness, appropriate action would be to “simply [check] in with someone and giving them the opportunity to say, ‘no worries. I know him. It’s all good!’ … or alternatively, ‘He won’t leave me alone and I just want to get out of here.’”

The bystander intervention event is open to the public and will take place Nov. 4 in room H-7.67 in the Hall building.

CAMPUS

What’s new with the CSU

FEUQ in the rearview mirror and new fee-levy group on the horizon

GREGORY TODARO News editor @GCTodaro The Concordia Student Union approved the addition of several initiatives to be voted on during this month’s byelection. During their regular council meeting on Wednesday, council agreed to ask students to allow the CSU to join a new provincial student union and to vote on the creation of a new fee-levy group.

Goodbye, FEUQ...

CSU V.P. external affairs and mobilization Gabriel Velasco presented two motions to council about the decline of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ). The first was so the CSU could advocate for the FEUQ archives to be transferred to a public archival space and to allow the CSU to be a part of the dissolution of the FEUQ. “The idea is to give all this documentation to public archival space so it doesn’t get lost and

anyone can access it,” said Velasco. In particular, the first and second points of the motion tied in with the CSU’s hope to get the data gathered by the FEUQ on students’ financial information.

“For the past eight years, the FEUQ has been running surveys on the campuses of all of the members,” he said. The survey asked students about topics including student financing, levels of debt and employment situation.

Velasco said having the raw data from the surveys conducted on campus could be useful for the CSU. “It could be really interesting to write a report on debt levels over the past eight years,” he added.

The third point of the first motion was to allow the CSU to help dissolve The FEUQ. “As all of [the FEUQ’s accounts] are being paid off or settled, there’s still going to be a certain amount of money remaining in the coffers of the FEUQ,” said Velasco. “We want to make sure that the money gets evenly distributed back to member associations.”

The second motion involved approving a referendum questions for a fee increase to pay membership costs for the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEC). The CSU wants to increase the $2.50 students pay per semester into FEUQ by $1 to pay $3.50 for membership into AVEC. ...and hello CURE? CSU council also approved a referendum question for byelections asking students to create a new fee-levy group . Community University Research Exchange (CURE) facilitates research collaborations between Concordia students and grassroots community groups. CURE, which is a working group of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at Concordia and has more than 75 current projects for students, can help students work and do research for which they can receive class credit.

CSU V.P. academic and advocacy Marion Miller told council that the Policy Committee re-

viewed the group’s proposed bylaws and recommended that the question move forward to the by-election.

“We found that the organization seemed very well organized and their structure made sense to us,” said Miller. “We really trust this group will be able to operate as a fee levy group.”

Cassie Smith, a coordinator with CURE, said the group helps around five to seven students a year work on projects.

“We’ve also had professors actually re-organize their course outline around CURE projects,” Smith said.

CURE is requesting an eight cent fee levy to increase the number of students they can pair with grassroots groups.

Smith said that with proper funding, she believes CURE could help four to five times more students. “Thus far we’ve just been funded through work studies and short-term grants so it’s hard to have somebody that actually puts a lot of time and coordination [into CURE].”

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

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CAMPUS

CSU daycare could be open within a year V.P. academic and advocacy Marion Miller says renovations could start next semester

The Concordia Student Union daycare cantre will be located on Bishop Street right next to Concordia’s downtown campus. Photo courtesy of the CSU.

GREGORY TODARO News editor @GCTodaro

T

he red-bricked building in the shadow of Concordia’s library on Bishop Street sits empty, waiting for a breath of new life to fill the shell of what used to be a cafe. As early as next fall, that building will not just be filled with life again, but with the liveliness that comes from having more than 70 children spending the day at the new CSU daycare and nursery centre.

CSU V.P. academic and advocacy Marion Miller officially announced the location of the daycare at the group’s regular council meeting on Wednesday. The CSU will be leasing the building at 1424 Bishop St. from Concordia University for the next decade, and Miller said renovations are set to begin next semester.

“We’re really lucky to have this building because it’s beautiful, it has great huge windows and it’s a lot of space,” she told council.

Miller said Concordia University is working on re-zoning the building to be a daycare.

Student-parent needs The initiative for creating a daycare for student-parents originated from the results of a study conducted in 2011 by the Dean of Students Office and the Concordia University Student Parents Centre. That study identified barriers to accessible daycare for student-parents. On the top of the list of things they needed was an affordable daycare option located near the downtown campus providing flexible hours.

Miller said the CSU also took a survey of 253 student-parents currently at Concordia. When asked where the ideal location for their daycare would be, over half of the people surveyed said they’d rather have it near the downtown campus.

In November 2014 the CSU presented

a referendum question at their byelection asking students if they were in favour of the continued prioritization of a daycare for student-parents. Concordia undergraduate students took to the polls and 87 per cent of voters were in favour.

Number of kids The daycare is being designed to take in children under five years old, with the spaces for the oldest children on the third floor and the nursery—for children less than 18 months old—located on the first floor.

“Our consultants had been telling us ‘you don’t want to go over 55 or 60 [kids] to have a comfortable daycare,’” said Miller. “Any more than that and it gets crazy, especially because we’re in a building on three levels … 52 is a pretty good number for us.”

While the daycare can only hold 52 children at any given time, the tentative schedule the CSU put forward has the capability of housing 72 kids in one day.

The current plan has 42 slots for children to spend the whole day at the daycare.

However, there will also be three different four-hour segments of the day, each of which has room for up to 10 children.

“One of the really attractive points of our daycare will be the flexible schedule,” said Miller. “In our survey it seemed that the majority of folks wanted fulltime care but there were some who were more interested in the flexible part-time [care].”

Miller added that the plan is not set in stone, and can change depending on the needs of student-parents once the daycare is up and running.

Costs The upfront costs of renovations for the CSU are upward of $200,000, not including repairs to the base building projects—including a new roof, a new entrance and third floor windows as well as a new electrical room—which will be

covered by Concordia. A referendum question at the CSU’s byelections this month will ask students to reallocate 24 cents per credit from the fee-levy already collected from students. This reallocation will to go to the day-to-day costs of the daycare. As a result, if the referendum question is passed the CSU Student Space, Accessible Education and Legal Contingency Fund will drop from $1 per credit to 76 cents per credit.

The daycare will also employ 11 staff members, one daycare and nursery manager, four qualified educators, four educator helpers, one kitchen helper and one bookkeeper and an administrative assistant. All but the administrative assistant position would be full time.

Daycare to be CSU subsidiary The CSU proposal would involve making the daycare a non-profit subsidiary. This will allow the daycare centre to have its own board. Otherwise, the responsibility for the centre’s board would force CSU council to act as its board.

“That just gets really complicated because then all of the councillors will have to get involved in the administrative governmental regulation relating to the daycare,” said Miller.

The daycare board will instead be made up of seven members. The board breakdown will require it to have two student parents, a daycare employee, a community member, CSU’s president, general manager and one CSU executive.

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LIFE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015 LIFE EDITOR CRISTINA SANZA life@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

FOOD

Attention foodies: the Montreal Vegan Festival is back Make black bean burgers and attend eye-opening workshops at this year’s edition

OCEAN DeROUCHIE Contributor

O

n Nov. 7, the doors of the Bonsecours Market will open, inviting Montreal’s foodies into a world of vegan yummy-ness. The second Montreal Vegan Festival will take place in the heart of Old Montreal, starting at 10 a.m., where entry is free.

The festival will feature unique guests that you won’t want to miss, from Pattrice Jones, the co-founder of VINE Sanctuary (an LGBTQ-led farm animal refuge), to Vegan Black Metal Chef who will be teaching festival-goers how to make black bean burgers. Other special guests will include doctors, dietary health specialists, foodie moms and psychologists who will make you question why exactly so many people still eat animals.

Last year, 5,000 people attended the festival. This year’s turnout is expected to increase by 30 per cent, according to the logistics organizer, Sameer Muldeen.

Muldeen said highlights will include conferences and a special party featuring Rise Kombucha. There will also be a 6 à 9 where local restaurant Aux Vivres will be doing food demos.

The Montreal Vegan Festival is completely volunteer-run, with over 150 people dedicating their time to bring Montreal an awesome gathering of vegan goodness at no cost for visitors.

However, the after party, which starts at

9:30 p.m. is $10 per ticket.

Audrey Sckoropad, a naturopathy specialist and a featured speaker at the festival, spoke to The Concordian about her mission to help people, especially families, transition to a vegan lifestyle.

“I have been a vegan for seven years, and I discovered veganism through The China Study when I was 17,” she said. “It just changed me, and my whole family and I became vegan within a month. The health benefits changed all of us so positively.”

The China Study is an American best-selling book about nutrition, particularly the vegan diet.

“I’ve never been this healthy,” she said.

Although people have to educate themselves on vegan diets, more and more people are aware that it is possible, she said. The key is balance.

Sckoropad’s presentation will feature advice for vegan families and a recipe demo for chia pudding. Her presentation is mostly geared towards vegan families and bringing up vegan children. She said she aims to demystify veganism, especially concerns about protein, calcium and iron. “You can get those in plant foods,” Sckoropad said.

As for integrating new foods into your lifestyle, Sckoropad said the easiest stepping stone is to start with smoothies and juices. “I’ve been starting my day with smoothies for seven years,” she said.

The benefit is that you’ll get everything you need in the morning, and you can add it to whatever you’re already eating, she

The second Montreal Vegan Festival will feature many workshops and cooking demos by chefs and health specialists. Photos by Andrej Ivanov.

said. It’s a much healthier alternative to a routine of coffee and toast, both of which will dehydrate you and lack much sustenance, she explained.

As for the festival, Sckoropad said, “for once everybody is on the same vibe, and is there to support and inspire each other with more tips and tricks. Hopefully there

will be more people who aren’t vegans and who are looking to plant the seed—that one small step will make the difference.”

You can learn more about the festival at festivalveganedemontreal.com and Audrey Sckoropad’s work at antidotesmagazine.com

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

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PROFILE

Getting a job in your field can happen while you’re studying

Concordia journalism student spends after-school hours producing a radio show at CJAD 800 TAYLOR YANKOWSKI Staff writer A degree is important, especially in the 21st century, but one Concordia journalism student has found that hard experience can teach you more.

“Yes, school is important, but already with the experience that I have while working and from school, I am able to become something stronger once I get that degree,” said Concordia journalism student and CJAD 800 producer Cora MacDonald.

MacDonald knows the importance of a university degree in this day and age.

However, she said the opportunities she’s gained during her internship at the CJAD radio station and her determination to do the best at her job has proven to be equally as powerful.

Now 29 years old, MacDonald’s journey to find her passion has been a long one, since at 27, she was a philosophy student at Concordia.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was in an existential crisis,” said MacDonald. “So I took existentialism [as a class].”

When making one of her schedules, she enrolled in a journalism class that was only accessible to students in the program. She was accidentally accepted.

A classmate in the course recommended an extracurricular activity that changed her life. The student told her to join the Street Team at Astral Media—so she did.

“When I would be driving in the car

with my ex-boyfriend listening to CJAD, I would always say ‘one day I’m going to be on the radio,’” MacDonald said. “I would say it jokingly.”

Little did she know, that was exactly what she was setting herself up for. The Street Team covers promotional events for stations including CHOM, CJAD and Virgin Radio. MacDonald even covered events with her job for the Montreal Alouettes’ football team, and made important connections while working there.

“You are going there for the purpose of creating a name in the journalism world,” she said.

MacDonald did just that by striving to

go above and beyond expectations for three months at the street team, despite rocky circumstances in her personal life.

She had suffered from a drinking problem.

“I became sober for this job and career,” she said. “I haven’t had a drink in over a year and a half, since my job has given me a purpose. I wake up every single day and I am grateful [for the station].”

After three months on the street team, she asked to be put in contact with Chris Bury, the program director and news director at Bell Media, who had taken over from Astral Media. After a meeting with Bury and receiving great feedback about her performance with the Street Team,

Cora MacDonald on the job at CJAD’s studio in Montreal. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

she was given the opportunity to intern for CJAD. MacDonald helped work on Todd van der Heyden’s Viewpoints and the Tommy Schnurmacher Show.

“I touched on research, chases and I saw a lot of things I pitched go to air with Todd van der Heyden,” said MacDonald.

“I booked at least a guest per show.”

In the end, this experience made her apply, twice, to the journalism program.

“I was in the running for the opportunity to have a full-time position as a producer but I said no, purely because I want those letters at the end of my name,” MacDonald explained.

“With my degree, I can become an executive producer.”

MacDonald explained that a diploma shows that you are accomplished and knowledgeable in your chosen field.

Work experience can disappear if a company is restructuring, for example. While it was a challenge to get these positions, she knows how valuable these opportunities have been.

“I am relentless,” MacDonald laughed.

“I never let someone say no to me. It may be terrible in my personal life, but as a journalist it’s great.”

MacDonald is in her second year at Concordia in journalism and is the weekend producer at CJAD 800. She is also Todd van der Heyden’s producer on his nationally syndicated radio show Viewpoints which airs Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on CJAD 800.

ENGINEERING

Meet Concordia’s mighty Engineers Without Borders Students from all programs aim to make a difference in developing countries as part of EWB KATYA TEAGUE Contributor

veloping village and call it a day, Vine said.

“It’s putting a band-aid on the problem of water distribution in small villages,” he said.

Systemic change is essentially the saying about teaching a man to fish so that you feed him for a lifetime, said Vine.

This past summer, Maxime Desharnais, a Concordia engineering student, spent four months in Ghana as part of EWB Canada’s Junior Fellowship Program. Desharnais primarily looked at the changes that could be made to the practice of growing rice through nursing and transplanting to optimize the yield of small farms.

“That’s the kind of thing that is going to change the way that people are living,” Vine said, referring to Maxime’s journey.

“They are getting better outputs just from simple changes in technique that they might not have known or developed.”

As an individual chapter, Concordia’s EWB members focus on supporting ventures like Desharnais’ through fundraising.

“There are a lot of students that really find a passion in develop-

ment, in leadership, in planning,” said Vine. “I think it’s something everyone should strive for.”

For more information, visit concordia.ewb.ca or stop by their samosa sales, held every Thursday at 12 p.m. on the second floor of the Hall building next to The Hive.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

Here’s the first thing you should know about Engineers Without Borders (EWB): it’s not just for engineers.

It’s about engineers and nonengineers throughout Canada coming together to tackle some of the world’s complex problems, according to Geordan Vine, president of EWB at Concordia University.

Working towards solving global poverty and creating equal opportunities may sound ambitious for Concordia’s small chapter—but that is part of their charm.

“It’s small, but it’s mighty,” said Jane Stringham, the V.P. of fundraising. “We get a lot done.”

From used electronics sales and trivia night fundraisers to facilitating trips to developing countries, members at EWB are always busy with new projects.

It doesn’t take much to become a member—just drop by for a meeting and you’re part of the team.

“I really like that it’s so flexible and that everyone is always welcome at the meetings,” said Samantha Sieklicki, the V.P. of member learning.

Neither Sieklicki nor Stringham are engineering students. Sieklicki recently made the switch from physics to religious studies and Stringham is working towards a master’s degree in environmental impact assessment.

As the V.P. of member learning, Sieklicki organizes discussions for EWB members on topics such as fair trade and food systems. It’s a chance for members to learn about how and why EWB is making a difference. “[EWB] is the kind of place where you can ask the hard questions to the CEO around a campfire,” said Vine, as he described one of the EWB retreats he attended last year.

The biggest project that Concordia’s chapter is working on is a certificate program as part of the Global Engineering Initiative. Vine said the program is about challenging students “to think in a global perspective, to think about their responsibility to society.” It is a part of EWB’s work to promote engineering leadership. Concordia aims to launch the program in January.

What sets EWB apart from other NGOs is its focus on creating systemic change. An organization can’t just build a well in a de-

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

HUMOUR

Porcelain Pilgrim: the library’s renovated washrooms STEPHEN HO Staff writer Ladies and gentlemen of Concordia University, It has come to my attention that the third floor of the J.W. McConnell Building is now newly renovated and open. This of course means there’s a new bathroom on campus and one that promises to be a pleasure to review!

After nodding in and out of consciousness through the majority of my 8:45 a.m. class, I tried to fight it, I really did. I made my way—now somewhat energized—to the third floor of the library. I couldn’t suppress a whispered “damn!” as I walked

into the new section. A girl gave me a reproachful look but she shouldn’t flatter herself like that.

I made my way slowly, like a big tourist, around the new area before finally making my way to the washroom. Clean white doors. Nice.

Sticky to the touch already. Not nice.

Still, I had hope. As the door swung inwards I was met with a sterile looking washroom, painted white with fluorescent lights and a long sink with multiple taps. Pretty badass.

“Looking good!” I said to myself since no one was in there, another plus in my books. I looked in each of the three stalls. All clean, they all had hooks on the doors and they all had toilet paper! I chose the handicapped stall cause I like my space and I’m sitting here writing this as I hear people come in and out of the washroom now.

I’m listening to someone use the hand

dryer and I’m afraid to say it doesn’t sound like one of those high-powered ones.

We’ll find out in a few moments.

Woah, automatically flushing toilets too! Lord knows we need it here. The hand dryers looked like the old ones and I was initially disappointed, but it actually seems like they’ve upgraded and I dried my hands pretty quickly. It ain’t those high powered ones I love, but that’ll do, pig, that’ll do.

Nine out of 10 for this sweet new water closet and I would have been disappointed with anything less since it’s completely new. Good on ya, Concordia!

Graphic by Kim Lam Shang Leen.

A meet-and-greet with the newly renovated high-tech school bathrooms

GAMING

Fallout 4 blends past and future into war madness With a few downfalls in the game publisher’s marketing plan, will the new installment be a success?

ROBIN STANFORD Staff writer With Fallout 4 set to release on Nov. 10, there is one question gamers should be asking: although a new addition to the series is long anticipated, will it live up to the hype?

Fallout 4 is mainly set in postapocalyptic Boston, with a retro-future style, where the 1950s culture collides with 21st century futuristic elements.

The game features advanced robots and technology alongside 1950s décor because the Cold War mentality never resolved and resulted in a full-scale nuclear war. Luckily, bunkers and vaults allowed humans to be prepared for such a situation.

All of the games in this franchise take place after a nuclear war, where the protagonist emerges from a vault. Gameplay unfolds in an action RPG-style, as the player navigates an irradiated world and finds horrors therein. In this installment, players can alternate between first-person and third-person views.

Looking at Bethesda Softworks’ recent history, it’s hard to determine whether a new project that is released will truly be a success or if it will flop. Let’s find out why.

The official announcement of Fallout 4 came with a successful response. Prior to the press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2015, the announcement was heavily speculated.

What was not foreseen was that the game would be released within six months.

Along with the game’s first trailer, though, Bethesda Softworks unveiled two more gamer goodies at E3. Truly, Christmas had come early for the series fans, until the truth set in.

Fallout 4 takes place in post-apocalyptic Boston, where the past and future collide.

First, they had created a free-to-play app, Fallout Shelter, for iOS which was launched just after the presentations.

Fallout Shelter allowed the player to manage their own vault during the nuclear war. If one made sure that vault dwellers were working, fed, armed, and generally happy, their vault would thrive.

The app debuted at number one on the App Store charts.

After a few weeks, however, players realized that there was a simple formula to obtain optimal results. The main problem with the game, as pointed out on the website of IGN, a leading games and entertainment media company, was that “oddly, once you succeed the fun fades away.” The game turns into a FarmVille style simulator that you visit for a few minutes here and there to check in on vault dwellers but nothing more.

Similar disappointment happened concerning the second goodie, the limited Pip-Boy edition of the game.

The Pip-Boy is an iconic item within the franchise itself. Various versions of the Pip-Boy are worn by the player-controlled character throughout the

series. It functions as a game menu displaying the character’s status, skills, perks, items, and general data. The limited-edition of the game would come with physical version of Pip-Boy, in other words, a computerized wristwatch that replicates the one seen in the game.

On the Bethesda Softworks official store website, it was said to function using a compatible smartphone and the accompanying app.

Right after its press conference, Bethesda Softworks revealed that the Pip-Boy wouldn’t be compatible on phones with screens that measured 5.5 inches, or more diagonally such as the iPhone 6 Plus or Galaxy Note 4. Although not entirely unexpected, it was a disappointment to some consumers as they would not be able to use a Pip-Boy. The shock came on July 1 when Bethesda Softworks announced through its official blog that limited-edition stocks had run out in North America. Later that month, Pete Hines of Bethesda Softworks revealed on GameSpot that “the company has hit its limit on the number of Pip-Boys it can manufacture.” The

company had simply not been ready for the large demand around its own hype.

Although Bethesda Softworks has come up with great marketing ideas surrounding its new game, none of them have panned out as well as the company expected.

Will Fallout 4 be the defining game of 2015 or fall like the Fallout Shelter app?

Only time will tell.

Fallout 4 will be available on Xbox One, PS4 and PC as of Nov. 10.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

ARTS

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ARTS EDITORS ELIJAH BUKREEV and LYDIA ANDERSON arts@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

FILM

The human face of the digital age

Danny Boyle’s new film, Steve Jobs, reflects on the Apple founder’s fascinating legacy

Steve Jobs follows the man backstage, away from the spotlight.

Release date: Oct. 23, 2015 Director: Danny Boyle Cast: Michael Fassbender, Seth Rogen, Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels Running time: 122 minutes

ELIJAH BUKREEV Co-arts editor It’s hardly a matter of debate that Steve Jobs managed to change the world. This text is being written on an Apple device.

It will be edited and laid out on other

Apple devices. I could take it on a walk and keep it in my pocket. I could have Siri read it to me. So could you.

Steve Jobs changed the world, but he may have been a bit of a jerk in the process, which made him a fitting subject for screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who previously turned his attention to Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network .

Zuckerberg and Jobs have both had an enormous impact on the way our generation relates to technology. They were both supremely self-confident men consumed by an idea—perfect candidates for Sorkin’s character studies.

The tumultuous production history of Sorkin’s new film, soberly titled Steve Jobs, is well-documented—as reported by The Guardian, David Fincher, who directed The Social Network, dropped out over a salary dispute, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale both turned down the lead role and Sony Pictures ultimately shelved the project. It was then revived by Universal and Danny Boyle came on board to direct, with Michael Fassbender as Jobs.

The result may not be the masterpiece many were expecting, but it’s a superbly acted and written treat. Sorkin went out of his way to make it unlike any biopic, especially unlike Jobs, the critical failure which starred Ashton Kutcher. Instead, it is structured like a play in three acts, each one covering 40 minutes of real-time interactions between Steve Jobs and a group of recurring characters just before a product launch.

Sorkin draws a very human portrait of Jobs—Time famously named him “Machine of the year” in 1982—who is caught here in all of his vain, perfectionistic and genial glory. There is no doubt that he is an artist on a grander scale—“Musicians play their instruments; I play the orchestra,” he says in the film. When Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) complains to him

about the Macintosh’s lack of customization, Jobs explains that he sees it not only as a commercial product but also as a personal work of art—the public, he tells Wozniak, should have no say in it.

Just like with The Social Network, Sorkin finds a balance between reality and fiction, condensing events and amplifying characters’ roles in them for the sake of a self-encompassing and subtly circular story. Jobs, for all of his troublesome personality traits, is given a redemptive character arc. Certainly, technology is an important theme in the film, but so is parenthood—Jobs’ adoption is brought up, as well as his unwillingness to acknowledge his own biological daughter.

What ultimately hurts Steve Jobs is that the film does not have enough of a director’s touch. Boyle, who is known for his energetic editing and visual style, is not given much room to express himself, with Sorkin’s trademark dialogue-heavy scriptwriting stretching the viewer’s listening skills to their limit. The script could eventually make a great play, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that film is first and foremost a visual medium.

Regardless, Steve Jobs is a fine companion piece to The Social Network in terms of mythicizing the advent of the digital age while giving it a human face.

BUSINESS

Turn your next pair of kicks into a work of art A new Montreal startup—The Flyest Shoe—is here to personally customize your sneakers LYDIA ANDERSON Co-arts editor @LydiaAndersonn We all use fashion to express who we really are—whether it signifies class, personality, emotion or interests. It’s a way to speak to the world through fabric and montage, an explanation of oneself without words. A new Montreal startup called The Flyest Shoe—formed in January 2015—allows this process to go one step further (pun intended).

The startup was co-founded by Nicolas Gaume, a UQÀM student, and Mathieu Naillon, an HEC student. It is run by five official members accompanied by two main artists—OneTulip and Quentin. The concept behind the company is the personal customization of sneakers—they upgrade your shoes from feet protection to works of art. Freelance or contracted artists are brought in by the crew to hand-paint your kicks, mostly with an acrylic leather paint called Angelus.

You can either bring in your own sneakers or the group commonly orders sneakers such as Nike Air Force One,

Quentin and the team work hard on delivering unique and hand-made designs. Photo by Lydia Anderson.

Nike Air Max, Adidas Superstar and Adidas Stan Smith for their customers. These shoes are primarily ordered in black and white so that they can act as a canvas for the artists to work off of. But rather than just customizing footwear in a generic way, the company offers the benefit of a conversation and an inclusion into the creative process. You can come in with a vague or a specific idea and brainstorm with the team and the artist that will be making your sneakers their canvas, their temporary sketchbook.

“You can [already] customize your sneakers but it’s not personal, so ev-

erybody can do the same as you. [Here] we are really trying to make something different for each customer,” said Gaume. “It’s a new relationship between the artist, the customers [and] the team.

We try to do something more personal,” said Anastasia Domerego, the art director of the startup. Domerego pointed out that big brands aren’t asking you “What would you like? What is your inspiration?” while this is exactly what The Flyest Shoe wants to know.

Your sneaker customization happens in five easy steps: pick a pair, choose a design, review various previews, choose

your favourite preview and give your approval on the final product. Your pair of sneakers can be finished in two to four weeks and pricing starts at $200 and may vary depending on the vastness and complexity of design. “If you want to have the pair of your dreams, but not to look like everybody else, go customize your pair. Come to our shop and we will make it different, better and yours … People want to be different and they want to be creators now,” said Gaume.

Gaume hopes that the future of the company will include 10 Montreal-based artists, international orders and two artists on the team who specialize in tailoring. Furthermore, rather than only personalizing a larger brand’s product, they hope to one day produce a brand of shoes of their own.

Whether you’re an artist interested in applying to make someone’s fantasy sneakers a reality, a customer who wants a pair of kicks that will set you apart or someone who wishes to walk the streets wearing artwork, The Flyest Shoe is a startup to keep your eye on.

For more information visit The Flyest Shoe’s website at theflyestshoe.com.

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theconcordian

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

PHOTO FEATURE

Montreal’s zombie walk A look at some of the best costumes spotted at Saturday’s Montreal zombie walk

Photo by Kelsey Litwin.

Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

Photo by Kelsey Litwin.

Photo by Kelsey Litwin.

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Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

Photo by Kelsey Litwin.

Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

FILM

Music and film as a means of resistance Cinema Politica’s latest documentary shows a fight for independence in Western Sahara KALVIN HARTWIG Contributor Perhaps you’ve looked at a map of Africa and wondered why Western Sahara looks so different from its surrounding countries, usually with its name italicized and separated from Morocco with a dashed border.

Or maybe you already know about Western Sahara and have a thirst to learn more, in which case you should watch Life is Waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara for its depiction of the unique predicament of Western Sahara and its independence movement. Written and directed by Iara Lee, this one-hour documentary gives an introduction to the fight for self-determination by the Sahrawis of Western Sahara, which was once a colony of the Spanish empire and is now a territory occupied by Morocco. Through music, art, film and other peaceful means, you can learn from the different struggles experienced over the years by young and old alike as Western Saharans face war and difficult life conditions.

The documentary starts off with a short but necessary history lesson.

Seemingly successful in its fight for independence from Spain in 1975, Western Sahara soon found itself embroiled in a war with Morocco and Mauritania, and then just Morocco.

In 1991, peace was achieved between Western Sahara and Morocco with assistance from the United Nations. However, according to the film, the hoped-for referendum to finally achieve full independence was unsuccessful, and was not pushed for hard enough by the global community. Now with Morocco occupying most of the land and coastal sea and with very little attention from outsiders, the film focuses on those Sahrawi activists who are attempting to continue their struggle through creative means.

Some will find Life is Waiting similar to 2007’s The Devil Came on Horseback for its review of the conflict in Darfur and the struggle for media attention and global intervention. But unlike The Devil Came on Horseback, which follows one protagonist throughout the documentary, Life is Waiting highlights the many artists and other activists who are living in occupied Western Sahara, in Spain as exiles and in Algeria as refugees. This may be both the film’s strength and one of its flaws. On one hand, the viewer gets to learn from

As these Western Saharans show, the human spirit can thrive even in a desolate and hopeless landscape. multiple activists who use many different methods, including rap and poetry, to reach a wider audience that may push governments to offer political assistance. On the other hand, the viewer may feel like hearing about a single activist more in depth.

One activist who stuck out, and may resonate with some of the more musically inclined audience members, was Mariem Hassan, a singer-activist for the movement. “I was a young girl at [the] time [of the movement for independence from Spain]. Songs were used to motivate people to stand up against the Spanish occupation, demonstrating and singing patriotic songs. Youth

back then were no different than youth today … Youth is behind all action. In that era, songs were our source of education and our weapon. People would come rushing to listen to the verses,” she said.

Indeed, there is a lot of beautiful music throughout the film. If not for the activism, then at least for the music and arresting visuals of the Sahara landscape, this is a documentary worth watching.

Screenings take place every Monday at H-110 and directors are usually in attendance. Look them up on Facebook at Cinema Politica Concordia.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

EXHIBIT

The Roaring ‘20s make a comeback at the MMFA The museum pays a glamorous tribute to artists of Montreal’s past, the Beaver Hall Group LYDIA ANDERSON Co-arts editor @LydiaAndersonn

T

he evening started as a crowd— all clad in attire reminiscent of the ‘20s—floated into a blue-lit bar room. The sounds of clinking glasses and the hum of echoed conversations were accompanied by the jumpy jazz coming from the musicians at the end of the room.

On Oct. 28, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts hosted a ‘20s-themed evening filled with wine, music, artwork and more, which was centred around their new exhibit, 1920s Modernism in Montreal: The Beaver Hall Group.

Live music echoed through the museum’s archways as guests mingled or made their way up the carpeted marble steps to the exhibit which paid tribute to Montreal’s famous and historic group of artists, the Beaver Hall Group.

Showing works spanning from 1920 to 1933, the wall panels explain that the Beaver Hall Group is an “association of some twenty artists and their closest colleagues” that existed between 1920 and 1923 and that, additionally, the Canadian Group of Painters—the next chapter for some of these artists—was founded in 1933. The MMFA boasts this exhibit to be the first major study of this association. This group of Montreal artists represented women and men in equal parts, making them the first association to do so in the country. However, this is only one of the many reasons why the museum is using jazz as a metaphor for their modernity.

The majority of the artists within the group had attended the school of the Art Association of Montreal—which was written to be the precursor to the MMFA itself. This shared training background might contribute to the continuity of style and technique seen throughout most of the exhibit. There is a varied choice of media and notable traits particular to each artist, but there are clear stylistic similarities within the group. However, with media ranging from oil on canvas to sculptures of patinated plaster and bronze and themes of winter landscapes, portraiture, industrial settings and more, the styles and subjects of this exhibit are as various as some of the detailed frames that surround the pieces.

The historic context provides a charismatic quality to the pieces and their

backstories. Among them, tales or inspirations drawn from World War I or the group’s “feminization” from being perceived as notably female-dominated at the time. Furthermore, many of the landscapes depicted are of Montreal and other areas in the province of Quebec—such as the Laurentians and Gaspé—with captions containing the comfort of familiar street names—such as St. Denis Street and Sherbrooke Street. Paired with the intrigue of a portrayal of this different time period, the exhibit allows viewers to visit a familiar place in an unfamiliar time through these historic artists.

The exhibit also holds a variety of aesthetic styles to enjoy. Take for example the simple but colourful landscapes from artists like Sarah Robertson or Prudence Heward’s skillfully execut-

ed depictions of lighting or her subjects’ noticeably more pronounced musculatures and skeletal structures. The collection of artwork had more than enough to offer to the perusing guests as they circulated in their feather boas and pearl necklaces. With or without the jazzy, Roaring ‘20s theme, this exhibit is worth taking the time to stroll through— and even if you missed the costume opportunity, it may just be worth it to don the historic attire to go to the gallery any other day, even if that does mean the occasional disconcerted sidelong glance.

1920s Modernism in Montreal: The Beaver Hall Group is showing at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts until Jan. 31.

Visitors peruse the paintings that influenced Montreal’s art scene over the last century. Photos by Marie-Pierre Savard.

This jolly museum-goer could easily pass for a 1920s belle.

The ‘20s are known as the “Jazz age”—jazz is at the very heart of the period.

A taste of the old-school dancing and nostalgia-ridden atmosphere.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

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MUSIC EDITOR SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER music@theconcordian.com

MUSIC

@theconcordian

CLASSICS

Revisiting Wolf Parade’s seminal debut 10 years later Though ten years have passed since its release, Apologies to the Queen Mary remains a treat

Montreal’s Wolf Parade recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of their debut record, originally released on Sept. 27, 2005.

CALVIN CASHEEN Contributor

A

pologies to the Queen Mary, the stellar sub pop debut from Montreal’s very own Wolf Parade, assembles grandiose pop sensibilities with punk-inflected indie rock.

This might sound like a familiar template for anyone who’s read a pretentious music blog, but appraising the album’s surface negates the mammoth ambitions found inside. Just give the record time—fixate on its influences, absorb each track, fold back the edges and you’ll find an all-inclusive survey of every emotion you’ve ever had. Only this time, the experience is soundtracked by sheer musical ecstasy.

Before the record’s release in September 2005, Wolf Parade fell victim to hype—a contradiction that has plagued Canadian music for years. With a name like Isaac Brock (better known as the sonic architect and brainchild of Modest Mouse) behind the mixing board, it’s clear that the Montreal import had a lot going for them, as well as an equally high bar to live up to.

Throughout the record, Wolf Parade roll out incendiary piano-hooks like a bat out of hell, but they retain the subdued confidence of such established veteran bands as label mates Dinosaur Jr. That gentle attention to detail established Wolf Parade as a formidable force against other indie-rock contenders.

Even in the face of such high expectations, the band prevailed with flying colors, garnering traction from postpunk purists and indie-rock teenybop-

pers alike. Ignoring the Pitchfork “Best New Music” seal of approval, Apologies to the Queen Mary is an exceedingly special album that has launched Wolf Parade into a storied musical lineage.

Few records, let alone debuts, exhibit such meticulously calculated and controlled musical prowess.

The record recently turned 10 and while the collective had been riding high up until their indefinite hiatus in 2011, it’s interesting to speculate how well Queen Mary sits with today’s digital age demographic. Stylistically, the record epitomizes that early 2000 era of post-punk revivalism, flexing components of fidgety guitars, glitchy synths, and spastic vocal deliveries. In other words, Queen Mary rigidly adheres to the signature Modest Mouse formula.

It’s easy to pull comparisons, but when Wolf Parade take familiar pop tropes and contort them into a triumphantly energetic musical pastiche, the result is hot to the touch. The invigorating sing-song choruses, brought to you by dual vocalists Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug, are absolute blessings to the ears. Krug exhibits the unhinged cadences of Lennon whereas Boeckner prefers a more bridled, McCartney-esque approach. When combined, the duality is seamless. The team’s meticulous sense of structure and attention to harmony has forged prominent solo careers for both; Krug has since released a handful of lauded albums under the Moonface moniker while Boeckner has endured success in such bands as Handsome Furs and Divine Fits. Queen Mary spotlights just how well these two can carry a tune.

The consistency of each track find Wolf Parade sharing a commonality with the fickle music listeners of today—“make them come to you and never let up.” The urgency of “We Built Another World,” the buoyancy of “I’ll Believe In Anything” and the spectral saunter of “Same Ghost Every Night” comprise the album’s accessible pop appeal, but the sticky melodies are intricate and energetic enough to keep listeners engaged for years. In other words, Wolf Parade’s debut serves as a remarkably

fruitful listen, endless in its replay value.

Though the band is sadly no more, their legacy nonetheless lives on.

Those unfamiliar with Apologies to the Queen Mary’s pivotal stature might be quick to dismiss it as tired hipster fodder but the record’s patient ascent from poised debut to cardinal indie gem is hard to ignore. It’s what happens when hype works in a band’s favour and what’s resulted is the gold standard exemplar for modern indie music—a lasting, anthemic, and transcendent work indeed.

Though they’ve been on hiatus since 2011, Wolf Parade’s ripples are still felt.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

RECOMMENDATIONS

A short guide to video game soundtracks You don’t have to be a gamer to appreciate these wicked dance-floor burners

to these digitized means. This format has done little to hinder his reputation, having been deemed the “John Williams of the video game world” by numerous critics and lauded as one of the most influential modern classical composers in his field.

Some soundtracks also exhibit numerous bizarrely inventive quirks of their own; Katamari Fortissimo Damacy, the soundtrack to the inherently Japanese Playstation 2 title Katamari Dama-

Majical Cloudz — Are You Alone?

(Matador, 2015)

Beach House— Thank Your Lucky Stars (Sub Pop, 2015)

The Garden - Haha (Burger/Epitaph, 2015)

Shining — International Blackjazz Society (Spinefarm Records, 2015)

Majical Cloudz, the chilly synth-laden project of Devon Welsh and Matthew Otto, recently played a sold-out show for the release of their sophomore outing, Are You Alone? The performance was underwhelming, leaving the pop craftsmen at odds with spectators. This begs the question: can Majical Cloudz emulate studio trickery on stage? Radio fodder aims for communal appeal. Are You Alone? opts for the personal synergy between listener and artist. It’s a pop effort that requires the same dense concentration that went into producing it, like performance doesn’t. While the duo thrives on individual strengths, Otto’s skeletal production and electro-tinged flourishes fully embrace Welsh’s intimate narratives. Majical Cloudz operates well inside these confines and their latest becomes all the more rewarding when recognized for what it is—an excellent album.

A marginal step up from August’s banal Depression Cherry, Thank Your Lucky Stars nonetheless showcases minimal growth from a songwriting standpoint. Beach House fails to provide a compelling case for this second full length of 2015. Beyond outfitting their sketchbook song structures with gloomier minor progressions, the duo essentially rely on the same kitchen sink of pretty clichés and mid-tempo nonchalance that’s come to define them. Though the band have stressed Thank Your Lucky Stars isn’t a companion piece to Depression Cherry, it nevertheless harbours a similarly dry feel, its skeletal instrumentals occasionally brought to life by dissonance.

Though some fans may welcome the band’s return to the more gaunt arrangements of their self-titled debut, Thank Your Lucky Stars is simply content with providing more of the same, for better or worse.

From odes to objects to plastering fresh faces on creatures they’ve imagined, Haha is less of an album and more of a series of brief, impromptu sonic art pieces. In their self-described mindset called “Vada Vada,” songwriters Wyatt and Fletcher Shears experiment in their playground of creative anarchy. The duo could be described as post-punk, but that’d go against “Vada Vada” values; instead, the minimalist instruments (only a bass and drums), the pre-recorded sounds that range from creepy to corny, and the twins’ impulsive lyrics turn the sound into a vibrant potpourri. Touching on Dadaism, their lyrics balance disinterest and wild catchiness.

The vocals on “This Could Build us a Home” would suit a motel’s basement rec room, but, really, Haha could make a home for itself anywhere. Under the veil of “Vada Vada”, The Garden exists everywhere.

As with Shining’s other albums, International Blackjazz Society is a bewildering experience. The mix of jazz and industrial metal hits like a ton of bricks dropped from the Empire State Building while the album’s intense tracklist grabs onto the listener and refuses to let go. Combining hints of Powerman 5000 with Phil Anselmo-like vocals, all the while throwing chaotic jazz-fusion into the mix, Shining’s latest also find them infusing some Trent Reznor into their sound for good measure.

The combination makes no sense on paper, but works surprisingly well musically. Though not without flaws, International Blackjazz Society absolutely needs to be experienced at least once for its musical prowess alone. It is living proof that controlled chaos exists and that it can work perfectly when created in the right environment.

Trial track: “Downtown”

Trial track: “One Thing”

Trial track: “We Be Grindin”

Trial track: “Last Day”

8/10

5/10

9/10

7/10

SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER Music editor As video games have drastically evolved through new advancements in technology and growing production budgets, so have the ways in which music and interaction converge to create impactful, thrilling moments.

A video game’s soundtrack can very well be a game’s defining characteristic and essentially reshape what would otherwise be just another level or objective.

More importantly however, a lot of these soundtracks are just plain incredible on their own merits.

It’s easy to forget just how influential and important video game music has been for a lot of popular music, namely for the development of electronic music; chiptune music was essentially born out of the limited memory afforded by video game consoles. Take the legendary work of music composer and programmer Yuzo Koshiro, whose soundtracks in numerous Sega Genesis titles has earned him a prestigious place in the development of the acid tech-

cy, is one such soundtrack. Blending such disparate genres as Shibuya-kei, jazz, lounge and chiptune into one incredibly manic and colorful whole, Katamari Fortissimo Damacy transcends what video game soundtracks strive to be. Though not wholly made up of original works, another recent and varied example of this is the neon-drenched nightmare that is Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. Featuring a

thrilling mix of percussive electro-house synths and atmospheric, Carpenter-esque Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

no movement of the early ‘90s.

Koshiro is perhaps best known for the infectious dance floor burners that bring the famed Streets of Rage series to life. Together with fellow composer and collaborator Motohiro Kawashima, Koshiro utilizes the Sega Genesis’ hardware to its fullest potential, squeezing an incredibly authentic and multi-layered take on acid techno through the most modest of sound boards.

A sample of Streets of Rage 2’s high-octane raver “Expander” even found its way into infamous South African group Die Antwoord’s “Happy Go Sucky Fucky.”

It’s also easy to forget just how important game audio can be for a game’s emotional centre; sweeping music, like in film, is often used to elicit very specific emotions from its audience. Voice acting is still relatively recent additions to the medium’s storytelling tools, therefore many releases had to rely on music to effectively convey specific emotions.

Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu made a name for himself by crafting gorgeously evocative orchestral pieces, all arranged through limited sound channels and MIDI sequencers, for the storied Final Fantasy franchise. As the series moved onto newer, more powerful hardware, Uematsu only grew more ambitious with his arrangements, though he mostly stuck

ambiance, Wrong Number’s soundtrack stands out as one of the year’s most impressive albums.

Though video games have long been the butt end of geek culture stereotypes and jokes, their influence on surrounding media is undeniable. Whether a wholly original collection of songs or a finely curated set of licensed pieces, video game soundtracks should not be ignored simply by virtue of being part of an interactive product. You don’t need to be good at video games to appreciate great music.

QUICKSPINS

CALVIN CASHEEN

SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER

MIA PEARSON

ANDREJ IVANOV

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

SPORTS

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SPORTS EDITOR ALEXANDER COLE sports@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

MEN’S FOOTBALL

Stingers lose in their season finale

The men’s football team lost to the Université de Montréal on Saturday in a tight 22-17 game

Slotback, Anthony Aubry gets hit before catching the ball during Saturday’s game. Photos by Andrej Ivanov.

CASEY DULSON Staff writer

T

he Concordia Stingers football team marched onto the Carabins home field on Oct. 31 hoping to upset the reigning Vanier cup champions. Despite having a lead with only one quarter to go in the game, the Stingers fell to the Carabins by a score of 22-17.

After a Stingers safety early in the game, the Carabins scored the first touchdown during their first drive of the second quarter. The Carabins started the drive on the Stingers 27-yard line. It was there that Carabins quarterback, Gabriel Cousineau connected with wide receiver, Philip Enchill for a 15-yard touchdown.

With nine minutes left in the first half, the Stingers got their offense in gear and marched themselves down the field. After reaching the Carabins eight-yard line, Stingers kicker, Keegan Treloar

came out to kick a 15-yard field goal and put it right through the uprights. As a fifth-year player, the field goal was Treloar’s last in his regular season career.

The key play in the scoring drive was a 44-yard pass from Stingers quarterback Trenton Miller to slotback Jahlani Gilbert-Knorren. Gilbert-Knorren was Miller’s favourite target in the game as he ended the day with 10 catches for a total of 100 yards.

Just before half-time, the Carabins scored on a 37-yard field goal to go up by a score of 12-3.

The Stingers would then start strong in the second half with a dominant third quarter. Miller scored back to back touchdown passes in the quarter which gave his team a 17-12 lead. The first of those touchdowns would be a two-yard pass to runningback Jean-Guy Rimpel.

Miller’s second touchdown was a 19yard pass to wide receiver, Daniel Skube.

In the fourth quarter, the Carabins

The Stingers defense trips up Carabins quarteback, Gabriel Cousineau. turned it up a notch and came roaring back into the game. To bring the team’s deficit within two points, the Carabins scored on a 23-yard field goal early in the quarter. The Carabins defense then caused the game’s turning point when they forced Miller to thrown an interception. The Carabins would then capitalize off of the mistake and score on a two-yard rushing touchdown by running back Sean-Thomas Erlington.

With just over two minutes left in the game, Miller led the Stingers down the field in a bid to retake the lead. The Stingers started on their own 24-yard line and picked up a total 41 yards off of several passes by Miller. The game ended when Stingers runningback, Rimpel was tackled on third down, meaning the team had to turn the ball over to the Carabins.

“We came up short again, we made too many mistakes but at least we battled till the end,” Stingers cornerback, Rashawn Perry said.

This was the Stingers second loss to the Carabins this season.

In the loss, Miller threw for 286 yards along with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns brought his season total to 20 which allowed him to break the Stingers single-season touchdown record.

“It doesn’t mean anything to me, it just shows that the offensive line and the receivers had a great season,” Miller said.

“It was a hard game, the Stingers played really well,” Cousineau said. “Defensively they stopped us for a majority of the game. They also have a very good offense that can drive down the field.”

The Stingers finished the season with a 4-4 record and will now head into the playoffs this weekend to play the Laval Rouge et Or in Quebec City. Despite losing to Laval in the playoffs last season, Stingers coach Mickey Donovan is excited about the game. ”It’s going to be a dogfight for sure, but we’re up to the challenge,” Donovan said.

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STINGERS

WEEKEND RESULTS ALEXANDER COLE Sports editor

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

CAMPUS

CJLO to broadcast Stingers games Concordia’s campus radio station is now covering live sports

RUGBY WOMEN’S (LOSS 25-17) The women’s rugby team lost to the University of Ottawa in the RSEQ championship game on Saturday by a score of 25-17. The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees were the number one ranked team in the RSEQ division with a perfect 7-0 record. Despite the loss, the Stingers will be playing next weekend in the CIS championships at Queen’s University.

MEN’S (LOSS 19-18) The men’s rugby team lost to the École de Technologie Supérieure in the RSEQ quarter-finals on Saturday by a score of 19-18. The week prior, the Stingers had defeated ÉTS by a 30-15 score. The loss means that the Stingers are eliminated from the RSEQ playoffs.

HOCKEY MEN’S (W 6-3; L 4-1) The team played two games at home on back to back nights this past weekend.

The first game they played was against Wilfred Laurier University. Despite being down 3-0 in the game, the team managed to find a spark and scored six unanswered goals to win the game 6-3.

In the second game of the weekend, the team lost 4-1 to Waterloo University.

Waterloo forwards, Colin Behenna and Andrew Smith each had two goals in the victory. The win and the loss means that the team is now 3-5 on the season. The women’s team had the weekend off.

SOCCER WOMEN’S (L 6-1; L 1-0) On Friday night, the team got blown out

by Sherbrooke on the road by a score of 6-1. On Sunday, the team would play at home against Laval in a game where they would lose 1-0. The two games marked the end of the regular season.

The team finished with a 4-9-1 record.

MEN’S (W 2-1; L 3-1) The team won their game against Sherbrooke on the road Friday night by a score of 2-1. Although, in their home game against Laval on Sunday, the team lost 3-1. Midfielder Roby Simard had the lone goal for the team. The season is now over with the team finishing with a record of 3-9.

BASKETBALL WOMEN’S (WIN 63-62) The women’s basketball team won their pre-season game this weekend against Carleton University by a score of 63-62. The score of the game was tight but the team managed to pull out the win with another big effort. The win improved the team’s pre-season record to 5-1. On Nov. 7 the team will be playing their season opener against UQÀM at the Concordia gymnasium.

Julian McKenzie (middle) and Sam Obrand (right) work on their set up. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

ALEXANDER COLE Sports editor @a_cole39 When the Concordia Stingers football team defeated the McGill Redmen to secure a playoff spot on Oct. 24, two Concordia students were living out their dreams in the press box. The Concordian’s own Samuel Obrand and The Link’s online sports editor, Julian McKenzie, could be heard over live stream, delivering play-by-play for Concordia’s campus radio station, CJLO. This broadcast was the first in a new initiative by CJLO that will see many Stingers games broadcasted with students at the helm. Obrand, who has his own show on the station, came up with the idea and immediately approached McKenzie.

“He was more than thrilled to see it through,” Obrand said. “I then approached my station manager Michael Sallot about the effort and he seemed really keen about it as well.”

In order to prepare for the first broadcast, McKenzie and Obrand met five weeks before the football game just so that they could get everything perfect.

For Obrand, the weeks leading up to the broadcast could not have come fast enough.

While the broadcast was in conjunction with CJLO, it was not actually put on the radio. Instead, the broadcast was heard through a live stream on Mixlr. The game was not heard on the radio due to scheduling conflicts with other shows on the station. As Obrand explained, broadcasting the game through the radio would have meant asking DJ’s to give up their time slots which was not something they could do. However, they would like to have games make it to radio in the future.

For both Obrand and McKenzie, the experience was a dream come true.

“It was too surreal, very dreamlike,” Obrand said. “The whole experience gave me a lot of joy and put me in a very content and confident zone, it’s definitely a place that I like to be.”

“Calling the game was such a thrill,” McKenzie said. “Our very first game will go down as one of the more memorable games of the McGill-Concordia rivalry. I don’t think you could’ve asked for more. It’s the games you dream of being a part of.”

McKenzie also went on to say that the real hero was Obrand’s brother, Richard, who provided the men with statistics on the Stingers and Redman players throughout the course of the game.

Obrand and McKenzie also did playby-play for the Stingers football game against the Université de Montréal this past weekend, which has given them two games worth of broadcasting experience.

While McKenzie and Obrand were the first to be play-by-play announcers in the initiative, they are not the only ones who get to participate. CJLO is open to anybody who would like to call games for the radio station and practice their commentating skills.

The station is hoping to cover all Concordia sports including hockey, basketball, rugby, baseball and soccer.

HOCKEY

Carey Price donates goalie gear The Habs goaltender contributes $10,000 to his hometown teams SARAH KOSSITS Staff writer On Oct. 27, when the Montreal Canadiens fell to the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 5-1 and failed to tie the NHL record for most wins to start a season, goaltender Carey Price remained a winner.

The Anahim Lake, B.C., native recently donated over $10,000 worth of CCM goalie equipment to organizations such as the Williams Lake Minor Hockey Association, the Williams Lake Big Brothers and Big Sisters, as well as three aboriginal organizations.

Price’s donation to his old minor hockey association allows children—who

may not have the financial means—to give the sport a shot. It also allows them to meet new people, make friends, and to play a sport they love.

As a goaltender myself, I’m aware of how haunting the bills of goalie equipment can be. Decent chest protectors cost about $700. Goalie pads can range anywhere from $600 to $2,000. Blockers and gloves are at least $250 each. A plain, one-colour helmet retails for about $500. I value the entirety of my equipment at about $2,500, and I’m not using high-end gear.

For underprivileged youth, a price cannot be put on this donation.

As Price was accepting one of the four trophies that he received during the 2015 NHL awards, he gave a speech to inspire kids who were once like him. “I made it here because I wasn’t discouraged,” he said. “I worked hard to get here, took advantage of every oppor-

tunity that I had, and I would really like to encourage First Nations youth to be leaders in their communities. Be proud of your heritage and don’t be discouraged from the improbable.”

The equipment donation is far from the first thing that Price has done to improve both local and aboriginal communities.

Price is also involved with a program called Stick with School, which encourages children to stay in school and motivates them to get good grades. He sets academic goals with the students, including those of the Kahnawake Survival School.

He then rewards the students with tickets to a game if they meet their goals.

No matter what Price’s future may hold with the Canadiens and no matter how many Stanley Cups, Olympic gold medals, or NHL awards he receives, Carey Price will always be a winner. Something that all Habs fans can agree on.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

OPINIONS

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OPINIONS EDITOR MATTHEW CIVICO opinions@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

EDITORIAL

PUBLIC PRIORITIES, NOT PRIVATE PROJECTS that the provincial liberal government is more concerned with injecting taxpayers’ money into the private sector—money the population will likely never see again—whilst services to the population get worse and worse week after week.

Sure, there is a lot at stake; Bombardier employs more than 18,000 workers in the province. But is this investment worth the cost of not giving enough to the next generations and the ones to follow? The Quebec government is partnering with one of Bombardier’s three divisions that faces great difficulties—the CSeries Jet division is already two years behind schedule.

Did Couillard ask for the people’s opinion on investing money that will primarily benefit executives and shareholders?

Of course not.

It can be argued Quebec is going to save 18,000 jobs, but will they be saved in the long term? With such a risky investment, no one can predict whether those employees will still be working at Bombardier in five years time.

So what happens to these public funds when everything falls apart again?

It seems Quebecers have better ideas about what to do with such an amount of money.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

P

hilippe Couillard promised to take care of “les vraies affaires” during the last provincial election campaign—apparently he meant taking care of private businesses, instead of the public sector. Quebecers are now facing tougher financial times than ever, with cuts to essential services across the board.

People heard the Premier’s song and dance, featuring his finance minister Carlos Leitão, more than once on how our province is so in debt that we need to reduce our expenses.

Couillard announced last week that Quebec will be investing an astonishing $1.32 billion of taxpayers’ money into Bombardier—which recently announced a $6.46 billion loss—to help them develop the CSeries Jet. Quebecers are right to question whether their billion dollars is being spent the right way.

This investment is especially controversial and unwelcome at a time when public-sector employees are on a rotating strike; at a time when teachers are losing money; at a time when students are being denied more and more services.

This announcement comes at the same time as a Montreal high school has been in the spotlight for needing help from a Protestant church after harsh budget cuts.

What transpires from this bailout is

This past week was not about our provincial government investing in some company with a long-term plan

in mind. This past week saw another example of a Quebec Liberal majority government stealing money from the population—from our pockets.

RELIGION

Volunteers and values: picking and choosing helping hands A Montreal church is getting a lot of attention for offering to help struggling students MATTHEW CIVICO Opinions editor @mattCivico Mark Twain once called Montreal the city of a hundred steeples, but not every church has a steeple—they’re expensive.

Take the church I attend as an example. Église du Plateau Mont-Royal is a small, francophone Protestant church that meets in the Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood.

The church-goers don’t meet in a church building because it doesn’t own one, which is common for new churches with small congregations. In fact, Église du Plateau Mont-Royal doesn’t own a building for the same reason I don’t own a house—real estate is expensive.

In early September the church started renting the auditorium at Jeanne-Mance High School for Sunday gatherings because the previous rental space was being filled to capacity.

You may think this all sounds benign, whether you consider yourself religious or not, so why are we talking about this?

A recent story by Radio-Canada and later the CBC has thrust my little church into the spotlight—even politicians are talking about it—but why?

Because Jeanne-Mance High School is a school with needs—needs compounded by austerity measures— and Église du Plateau Mont-Royal is big on community service.

From what I understand, the decision to rent space at Jeanne-Mance was motivated by a desire to serve the disadvantaged. The school is ranked third worst in Quebec, according to the Fraser Institute, and has a course failure rate of 49.9 per cent.

The problem is not that the church wanted to help by offering tutors (many congregants are university students) or

volunteers to keep the library open when the librarian was laid off. No, the problem seems to be that a church wanted to help.

The Radio-Canada report also got a few facts wrong. The article says members of the church are already tutoring and volunteering in the library.

We’re not, because we haven’t been trained by the school yet or agreed to the terms that would likely be imposed on any volunteers.

The majority of those who commented on the article seem convinced that the plan was to put on Jesus t-shirts and hand out copies of the Bible with students’ library books.

That’s ridiculous.

Regardless of what you may have seen on T.V., that’s not Église du Plateau Mont-Royal—and that’s not me. I get it though, I’m a native Montrealer and I know the history of religion in Quebec. People just aren’t comfortable with religion in schools since the Quiet Revolution—for good, valid reasons—and I think the de-confessionalization of school boards was a good thing.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

I know what it means to live in a pluralistic society. I know that in Canada, and Quebec especially, my worldview is not the dominant one. Because of this I try to live out my faith humbly, answering questions instead of offering answers.

I have a question of my own: if my church didn’t meet in Jeanne-Mance’s auditorium and I wanted to volunteer my services as an ESL teacher, would I be allowed? I’m a Christian and sometimes I talk about that fact. If someone asked me why I volunteer anywhere I’d mention something about Jesus’ command to love my neighbour. Église du Plateau Mont-Royal isn’t planning to put on t-shirts and proselytize kids. We saw a need and asked if we could help. I’m a one service-minded individual among many at the church and yes, that service mindedness springs from my faith but that doesn’t change the nature of my service.

If all this media coverage means Église du Plateau Mont-Royal is strictly forbidden from mentioning our faith while volunteering, that’s fine, I just want to help. If the school gets much needed funds out of this, even better.

But my motivation for helping will always stay the same.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

SOCIETY

Being a woman shouldn’t mean having to say you’re sorry Unequal expectations at work mean women have to work harder to be heard

GLORIA PANCRAZI Contributor Listen up ladies: you should be assertive, but you shouldn’t be bitchy. You should be talkative, but you shouldn’t take over the room either. You should be sexy, but shouldn’t be slutty. You should be sweet, but you shouldn’t be a pushover. You should act like a man, but behave lady-like. Right?

Bullshit.

We have this misleading concept that we should be everything and nothing all at once, so, we constantly doubt ourselves. Personally speaking, I question myself every day and overthink everything. Do men do this as much as women do?

In the workplace—or simply in daily events—us lovely human beings “blessed” to be the “weaker sex” have a lot going on in our heads. We don’t want to be labeled as the “bitch.” And you are perceived as the “bitch” if you are too assertive. However, reversing the roles, a man is being the boss, or simply a man, if he is boldly self-assured

about his opinions.

Negative feelings are heaped on women when they act like a man should, sure, and men experience the reverse when they

behave the way women are “supposed to,” by being called a sissy—or worse.

This just reinforces negative gender stereotypes. This happens because of how gender is culturally constructed in our society, and it continues despite our best efforts.

Our fear of being seen as unattractive or out of the norm is perpetrated by the gender inequity in the workplace: that is the still remaining wage inequality along with male dominated professions.

Women are still being paid only $0.82 to every $1 earned by men and a majority of men at work encourages this ridiculous idea and vicious cycle of men Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

acting bigger and women acting smaller.

Yes, this is what contributes to women apologizing more for their actions because of the actual fact that they are not as valued as men—according to their paycheck that is.

My mother used to be president of her company alongside my father. When they got divorced, she lost her position. My father and his colleague now have that title. Divorce comes with its own taunting quarrels and my mother didn’t want to fight relentlessly over job titles. So she let it be. I wonder if a man would have let go of that title of power that easily. That’s the thing isn’t it? Men are born into the world with a position that makes them more eligible for power than women.

I sometimes silence myself in front of issues that bother me to avoid looking stupid or overly sensitive. Overly sexualized women dominate the media in our day-to-day lives and we mindlessly accept it.

This only drags on the issue. Speak up about your thoughts and don’t apologize for sharing them. Be labeled as the ‘bitch’ for being assertive, and don’t act like a man or a woman—but as a human being.

HEALTH

The Teal Pumpkin Project: more treats, less tricks

Some candy can be deadly, so some colour and more Halloween safety isn’t going to hurt anyone BRIANNA BALLARD Contributor Big, orange jack-o’-lanterns are the symbol of Halloween. No home would be complete without one on Oct. 31, but what if this year, people were swapping out the traditional orange colour for... teal?

The “Teal Pumpkin Project” is a movement that started in the U.S.A. and is now moving to Canada. Homeowners are putting out teal pumpkins to signify that the house is offering allergysafe treats on Halloween for trick-ortreaters. For kids with allergies, this is great news; but for the back-in-my-day folks who have nothing better to do, it’s yet another thing to complain about.

Homes that are taking part in the Teal Pumpkin Project are offering kids things that won’t threaten their lives, and will give their parents peace of mind. They will be giving out non-edible treats, such as small toys or stickers, instead of potentially harmful candy for kids with allergies.

The concept of giving treats to kids for them all to enjoy safely shouldn’t be a controversial issue, but it seems to be. The comments section of an online article on CBC News website is riddled with criticism. Remarks such as “the gluten panic strikes again” or “why not just ban Halloween completely?” attack a harmless gesture, seemingly without reason. Putting out a different coloured pumpkin won’t ruin anyone’s Halloween aesthetic, and giving out seasonal stickers instead of chocolate bars won’t

Each of these pumpkins could represent a house with allergen-filled candy. Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard. disappoint any kids. On the contrary, allergy-free treats will make trick-ortreating way more enjoyable for all the little monsters running around on Halloween night.

But the people of the internet seem to think that kids are just being coddled these days—as if going into anaphylactic shock is character building instead of life threatening. True, no one likes helicopter parents who protect their children just short of wrapping them in bubble wrap, but no one can blame families that want their children

to have a normal, exciting, and safe Halloween experience. If a child with a severe allergy or food intolerance gets a hold of the wrong candy, it could be dangerous, and this risk leaves children out of the fun of the holiday.

While everyone is more-or-less familiar with the common peanut allergy, things such as celiac disease, which is an extreme sensitivity to gluten, are not as well known. Kids with Type 1 diabetes, gluten sensitivities, and uncommon allergies have a tough time on Halloween. The candy they get

from trick-or-treating has to be sorted out and the majority is inedible; some kids don’t go out for Halloween at all because it’s safer for them to stay away from candy altogether.

The Teal Pumpkin Project is nothing but a good thing. Children deserve to be kept safe on the spookiest night of the year, and a cool new colour for Halloween is hardly the worst way to do it.

Every kid deserves to have fun, regardless of their differences, so here’s to hoping we see a little more teal next All Hallow’s Eve.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

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ETC Tweets of the week #IfIWereElectedMayor Everyone loves the idea of keeping our politicians accountable. We like the idea of booting people out of office so much, maybe that’s why we put fools in there in the first place. Another game we like to play is #IfIWereElected. This week Twitter played #IfIWereElectedMayor.

@fabulousraye #IfIWereElectedMayor Taco Tuesday would be mandatory @Hollyorange8 #IfIWereElectedMayor I’d forget which city I was mayor of @MermaidintheUSA #IfIWereElectedMayor I’d force the local fast food joints to give unlimited side sauces. @BrittanyvonDoom #IfIWereElectedMayor..... Um, I play SimCity.... So I’m already there. #nobiggie @KennethReading #IfIWereElectedMayor I’d elect another two Mayors. Well, you know what they say, the more the Mayorier @mentalerase #IfIWereElectedMayor shenanigans are legally permitted as long as they are committed utilizing the buddy system

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Letter to the editor WRITE TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF editor@theconcordian.com

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations demands that Concordia University’s faculty members and administration drop all charges against students facing expulsion, that they allow our students to protest in the upcoming strikes without legal or academic consequences, and that article 29G of “Concordia’s Code of Rights and Responsibilities” be amended to reflect the students democratic right to strike.

In April 2015 when students of ASFA’s member associations gathered together in general assemblies to strike against austerity and its detrimental effects on their education, they were asserting the legitimacy of their political bodies.

Members of faculty and the administration used this as an opportunity to silence the voices of those who were trying to defend their education by using ‘Concordia’s Code of Rights and Responsibilities’ against them. However, our member associations democratically voted to hold a hard picket line in front of every classroom in the departments that were on strike, something the faculty was made aware of. Students are now facing tribunals and the fear of expulsion, an oppressive tactic carried out to discourage future strikes.

When students are punished for carrying through a democratic mandate it is an obvious affront to their rights and political discrimination.

Austerity is not an economic necessity it is a political choice. The faculty and administration are clearly making a political statement when they take legal action toward the students who are speaking out against cuts to the public sector.

Despite these injustices students are still choosing to protest against these neo-liberal attacks on our University and all academic institutions across the province. The faculty should be protesting alongside them because these cuts affect them and every other level at Concordia.

Instead of support, there have been reported physical threats by faculty towards our students who have once again legitimately voted to be picketing in classrooms in the upcoming weeks.

Austerity measures have taken a toll on the

entirety of the public sector, all aspects of our educational institutions included. In light of the seriousness and depth of these attacks it is worth understanding what we stand to lose and what future generations stand never to have in the first place.

Students in the humanities are facing a job market that barely allows for them to use their degrees in any way. Grad schools in Quebec and the rest of Canada have fewer seats and a lower quality of education today compared to a decade ago. Due to cuts in government subsidized services, it has become nearly impossible for self-reliant students from all walks of life to fully immerse themselves in their studies only allowing for the financially stable to have the chance to show their full potential at school and be part of academic discourse. These are just a few ways students are affected by budget cuts.

Professors are forced to take on growing classes without teaching assistants and larger workloads for the same pay or less because many teachers were pressured to leave. Those coming into the job market will also find little opportunities for employment. These are just a few ways professors are affected by budget cuts. Students all over Quebec have noticed how their education is lacking in quality due to lack of funding and it’s time the school’s faculty and administrators acknowledge this as well.

It is for all these reasons above that ASFA is calling on the faculty to drop the charges and threat of expulsion that are facing our students. ASFA stands in solidarity with its member associations and the students of FASA, one of our fellow faculty associations, as well as the students of UQAM who are also facing similar oppressive measures carried out by key players in their university. We are calling on the faculty and administration to support our member associations’ strike mandates, to act in the interest of students education and support the fight against austerity.

— JENNA COCULLO ASFA PRESIDENT

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Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 10 | TUESDAY, NOV. 3, 2015 Cover photo by Andrej Ivanov.

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK VIGIL AT PLACE DES ARTS FOR ABORIGINAL WOMEN

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Vigil attendees lit candles and lanterns to pay their respects.

The Buffalo Hat Singers performed in honour of the lost women. Photos by Andrej Ivanov.

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