The Concordian - November 10th, 2015

Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper

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VOLUME 33, ISSUE 11 | TUESDAY, NOV. 10, 2015

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T a k e

B a c k

T h e

N i g h t

News p. 3 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

LIFE

ARTS

MUSIC

SPORTS

OPINIONS

Prevent sexual violence p. 7

A Brazilian renaissance

Four concerts to catch p. 13

Stingers player of the week p. 14

A tale of two poppies

p. 11

p. 17

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015 NEWS EDITOR GREGORY TODARO news@theconcordian.com

NEWS CITY JESSICA JASCHEK Production assistant

Increasing amount of Montreal doctors going private Doctors across Montreal are opting out of Quebec’s public medical system. The RAMQ revealed that from 2014 to 2015, 40 doctors decided to go private and six months later an additional 35 opted out of medicare, according to CTV News. Most of the practitioners who went into the private sector were practicing family medicine. This is the largest annual switch seen in 15 years and critics believe Bill 20 is to blame.

The RAMQ said the increase across Quebec only accounts for 1.5 per cent of the province’s 21,000 doctors.

Sewage dump into St. Lawrence approved Canada’s brand new Environment and Climate Change Minister, Catherine McKenna, has approved the city of Montreal’s plan to dump billions of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence river, according to The Globe and Mail. This decision came on the sixth day of her time in office. McKenna’s decision, which she called “far from ideal,” must meet multiple conditions the improvement of water quality monitoring, emergency response plans and cleanup. The dump is set to be complete by Dec. 5.

Several Montreal school boards confirm strikes The Commission scolaire de Montréal, the Lester B. Pearson, and English Montreal school boards have announced they will be striking on Nov. 16 and 17. Parents were informed over the weekend. All of the schools and daycares in the aforementioned boards will have their services affected.

These strikes are taking place due to a lack of progress in negotiations between the provincial government and public sector workers, according to CBC News.

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NATION

Building bridges from North to South

Concordia student part of 2015 Arctic Youth Ambassador Caucus GREGORY TODARO News editor @GCTodaro Concordia anthropology student Andrew Fitzsimmons left Ottawa on Oct. 29 along with 30 other members of the 2015 Arctic Youth Ambassador Caucus.

“Early in the morning, we got up, grabbed our bags, and flew up to Iqaluit,” he said.

The caucus was organized by the Canadian non-profit organization Global Vision. Fitzsimmons and other ambassadors from

Southern parts of the country met with leaders and youth ambassadors from the North to discuss problems the North is facing such as food security and climate change and come up with potential solutions for those issues. This caucus also hoped to bridge the gap between the two communities.

After landing in the capital of Nunavut, the caucus met with the territory’s legislative assembly.

“They were in session,” said Fitzsimmons. “We were actually recognized by the assembly, as well as the education minister …

Fourth-year anthropology student Andrew Fitzsimmons.

Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

and the Premier.”

From there, the group went to Inuksuk High School to visit with government leaders on food security.

“One of the typical issues you hear often about in the North is food prices,” Fitzsimmons said. Other than increasing the subsidization of food, one potential solution could be to find a way to increase traditional hunting practices.

“More and more youth live a life just like ours,” he said.

“It’s hard to schedule hunting with things like school when you have a five-day-a-week school schedule.”

The group also discussed the possibility of creating a “family partnership” where a family in the South would send food up to a family in the North in exchange for traditional knowledge, stories and any goods they wished to send.

Later during the trip, the caucus met with the territory’s edu-

cation minister. Fitzsimmons said Nunavut is currently considering building a university. Canada is currently the only Northern country without a university in the arctic, Fitzsimmons said. He also said the territory is still working on improving its education program.

“They’re using the Alberta curriculum in Nunavut right now,” he said. “They have some mandatory, Nunavut-only requirements … but one of the goals maybe one day would be to have their own curriculum.”

During their time in Nunavut, Fitzsimmons and the Southern ambassadors also spoke to their Northern counterparts about issues like the territory’s suicide crisis and issues exacerbated from climate change.

Fitzsimmons, who is in his fourth year studying anthropology, said this experience and his time as a co-op intern for Parks Canada has inspired him to continue learning and working with Canada’s North.

CAMPUS

Highlighting social justice research Community-University Research Exchange is hosting Radical Research Week GREGORY TODARO News editor @GCTodaro A week-long event looking to highlight the importance of work done by community grassroots movements kicked off at Concordia Monday.

Radical Research Week is hosted by Community-University Research Exchange (CURE), part of Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at Concordia, a group which works to connect students to community-driven social justice research through grassroots organizations in Montreal.

“It grew out of this undergraduate community-driven research conference that QPIRG puts on every year called Study in Action,” said CURE coordinator Cassie Smith.

CURE works to pair students with research projects organized by community grassroots organizations.

The first-ever Radical Re-

Radical Research Week is a week about community-driven social justice research. Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard. search Week consists of workshops, panels, art exhibits and film screenings to show how students and community members contribute to knowledge production—even if it isn’t recognized by academic institutions.

On Monday, Radical Research week kicked off with a free lunch with the People’s Potato. Later that day was an exhibit showing art related to social and environmental justice and a collective piñata making workshop where participants create a piñata based on something that bothers them as a group. That piñata will be destroyed later during the week as a cathartic group experience.

Other events include a community roundtable with representatives from 10 different

community groups, a panel discussion on technology on feminist technologies and a Radical Campus Tour to learn more about radical activism projects around Concordia, both past and present.

On Thursday, the keynote panel discussion about grassroots knowledge, hosted on the seventh floor of the Hall building, will feature Indigenous activist and artist Ellen Gabriel, Black feminist Robyn Maynard and co-founder of Montreal-based FemHack Anne Goldenberg. “[The keynote] really draws in the idea of community-based social justice research from a variety of perspectives,” said Smith.

CURE will be requesting to become its own fee-levy group at the Concordia Student Union

byelections later this month.

Smith said allowing the group to become independent from QPIRG would allow CURE to hire coordinators and increase the number of events they hold.

Smith also said the fee levy would allow CURE to triple or quadruple the number of students working with grassroots groups each year. Currently, around six students take part in a CURE project each year.

“As an undergraduate student, I think it’s really easy to be on auto pilot or feel like what you do is just for some degree requirement but doesn’t really go beyond that,” Smith said. “I think [CURE projects] are really important for students because it validates that work you do as useful.”

“You don’t have to have a PhD to do amazing research,” she added. “Instead of writing papers that get read by your professors then shoved into a drawer someplace, you can do work that actually goes outside the walls of the university and benefits whole communities.”

To learn more about CURE and Radical Research Week, visit curemontreal.org.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

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DEMONSTRATION

Marching against gendered violence Students took to the streets for the annual Take Back The Night march

NATION JESSICA ROMERA Copy editor

Canada to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees

JESSICA ROMERA Copy editor @jessromz

A

midst a sea of eager hockey fans walking towards the Bell Centre on Thursday night, another 200 people took to the streets of Downtown Montreal for the annual Take Back The Night march against gendered violence and harassment.

For four decades now, the international organization Take Back The Night has organized marches in dozens of cities across North America. This year’s Montreal edition was organized by A Safer Concordia, a campaign by the Centre for Gender Advocacy. Before heading along Ste. Catherine Street from Concordia University to McGill University, students gathered at Norman Bethune Square at the corner of Guy Street and de Maisonneuve Boulevard on the unseasonably warm November night, wielding signs reading “Stop Rape Culture” and “My Body My Rules.”

“I think it’s so angering that one gender over another doesn’t have as much of a right to public spaces as the others,” said Emilie Lamoureux of the Centre for Gender Advocacy. “I just want every gender to feel safe wherever they go, regardless of the time of day.”

In the past, the march has not been as inclusive and accepting of trans people and sex workers, and has even taken an anti-porn stance, said Lamoureux. But for the last three years since A Safer Concordia has been organizing the march, they have been trying to promote solidarity throughout the community, a recurring theme throughout the event’s speeches. “The purpose is to put those who are the least safe— so native women, sex workers and trans people of colour—at the front of the campaign and to provide a forum to be heard should the desire be there,” said Lamoureux.

The night began with a few words and a traditional prayer from Algonquin songwriter and activist for Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women MJ Tremblay.

“I just feel like there’s a good wave, there’s going to be a big change because we are hopeful-

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A Safer Concordia, a campaign by the Centre for Gender Advocacy, organized the march. ly going to have a government that’s going to be for us, serving us,” said Tremblay referencing specifically the new Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould.

Activist, writer and radio journalist Aimee Louw from Accessibilize Montreal continued the speeches by sharing some of her recent encounters with misogyny and ableism. “I don’t accept it. However you react is fine, but not all reactions are a choice; a lot of it happens behind closed doors. We need a collective response because some people are not just able to get up and leave.”

As the march began and participants chanted things like “Whose streets? Our streets,” and “Investigate crimes of hate,” an onlooker yelled for marchers to “go home.” A collective “fuck you” rose from the marchers as they continued to make their way through the streets of Downtown Montreal.

“I’m marching for safer streets for women and men to feel safe in their own space, in their environment no matter how they appear, no matter where they are, no matter what time of day it is, that they should be able to be safe and comfortable in their space,” said Concordia student Claire Macaulay.

Reaching McGill’s campus, marchers gathered to hear from several other speakers, including Chantel from Missing Justice. She shared her personal experiences as an indigenous woman living

I just want every gender to feel safe wherever they go, regardless of the time of day.

— Emilie Lamoureux, Centre for Gender Advocacy

The Canadian government has announced that it will be taking in around 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, according to CBC News. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship John McCallum announced the creation of a new subcommittee to manage the initiative. The committee will include a number of newly appointed ministers including Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion and National Defense Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan. At least $100 million will be invested into refugee resettlement according to the CBC.

Man attacked with machete in Kensington Market A man is in the hospital after he was attacked with a machete in Downtown Toronto’s Kensington Market, reports the Toronto Star. The victim was reportedly approached by three men and then stabbed around 1 a.m. when an altercation broke out between them. He was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries. One man has since been arrested, and can be charged with multiple offenses including possession of a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

Police are still looking for the two other men involved in the altercation, reports CBC News.

The march started at Norman Bethune Square.

Photos by Kelsey Litwin. in Quebec and spoke of the violence and misogyny women and other members of her community continue to face regularly.

She spoke of the current situation in Val d’Or where allegations of sexual abuse by police officers on indigenous women have arisen.

“As an indigenous woman, it is hard to report any kind of crime to the police,” she said.

“How can you report a crime when the police won’t believe you, or are the ones perpetrating the crimes?” Chantel shared that she herself has been the victim of sexual abuse, but her case is

still open, and has not received any updates for a long time.

“I know it happened. I know it’s real,” she said.

Before heading into the school where marchers could meet and discuss with the night’s guest speakers, Charlotte from Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society shared a concluding statement.

“Tonight we are making a clear statement: we are reclaiming the night. But we must also reclaim our right to all spaces where our voices have been stifled.”

B.C. Filipino workers file human rights complaint A group of temporary foreign workers in British Columbia has filed a complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal against the Tim Hortons they worked at over multiple violations. The workers claim that the “franchise denied them overtime pay, gave them less desirable shifts than their coworkers, and threatened them with being sent back to the Philippines,” reports The Vancouver Sun. The franchise requested to have the complaint dismissed, but the tribunal has since rejected their claim.

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WORLD SAVANNA CRAIG Staff writer

Russian athletes accused of doping Russian athletes have come under scrutiny with recent accusations of doping. The independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has urged that Russia be removed from future sport competitions.

WADA has blamed Russian athletes of disrupting the outcome of the 2012 Olympic games in London by “covering-up, destroying and paying money to conceal doping tests.”

SeaWorld to drop killer whale performances SeaWorld has announced they will be eliminating their “Shamu” killer whale show from their San Diego location as of next year.

The California Coastal Commission voted to end the performances after ongoing protest and criticism on the mistreatment of their sea creatures, according to The Globe and Mail. SeaWorld will no longer be allowed to breed the orcas following a vote by the CCC which now bans breeding of the whales in captivity.

SeaWorld plans to launch a new, more natural setting conservation-oriented theme exhibit in 2017, but has not yet specified how it would differ from their “Shamu” performances.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

PROTEST

Students march against austerity Thousands more were on strike across the province on Thursday GREGORY TODARO News editor @GCTodaro

T

housands of students assembled at Lineaire De La Commune Park in Old Montreal on Thursday to protest provincial austerity measures.

The march was organized by the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ) to coincide with strikes by the public sector, including teachers who are still negotiating their contracts with the province.

Around 50,000 students across Quebec were on strike.

At Concordia, two undergraduate programs were on strike: the Liberal Arts Society (LAS) and the School of Community and Public Affairs Stu-

dent Association (SCPASA). The Sociology and Anthropology Graduate Student Association (SAGSA) and the Graduate Philosophy Students Association (GPSA) were also on strike.

This protest is in the wake of the Oct. 29 announcement that the Quebec government would be investing over $1 billion into Bombardier, who that same day announced a $4.9 billion third-quarter loss.

Students started gathering at the park at 1 p.m., then marched up St. Laurent Boulevard, working their way downtown and eventually stopping at the intersection of Ste. Catherine Street and Berri Street.

Police in riot gear walked alongside the protesters for the duration of the march, which remained peaceful.

Thursday’s protest started from Old Montreal.

Students and the public sector united against austerity.

Protesters marched up St. Laurent from Old Montreal.

Fraternity files lawsuit against Rolling Stone A US$ 25 million lawsuit has been launched against Rolling Stone. This comes after the magazine published an article wrongfully accusing seven members of a University of Virginia fraternity of gang raping a female student in 2012.

The piece has been subject to two other lawsuits since the article’s release in November 2014. The fraternity stated in the lawsuit that, “these were allegations of ritualized and criminal gangrape,” which has caused “widespread persecution of its members.”

The protest was organized by ASSÉ. Around 50,000 students across Quebec were on strike. Photos by Andrej Ivanov.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

Canada’s friendliest cities for students

The cost behind the cost of studying in Canada’s biggest cities INFOGRAPHIC BY LAURA MARCHAND

A look at the cost of living, going out and job prospects for students LAURA MARCHAND Staff writer @Marchand_L

For new students,

university is an opportunity to get out into the world and explore, with many opting for a university in major urban areas.

But not all cities are created equal.

From the price of rent to bus passes and beer, we look at the cost behing living in the big city as a student.

The roof over your head has the cheapest rent, with an average of $742 for two-bedroom apartment.

Vancouver

Popular degrees and whether you can get a job doing it

Transit and transfers: paying for your pass

Calgary Vancouver

Ottawa

$70

Montreal

Halifax

$112 Toronto

Hops and robbers: paying for a pint

$6

$6

$6

$6.50

$7

Halifax

Calgary

Montreal

Toronto

Ottawa

Vancouver

Toronto

$5.75

Montreal

You’ve gotta prioritize the important things in life.

Like beer. How much a beer costs can say a lot about a city, and how much you’ll pay to enjoy yourself in it.

Halifax

$48.70

$38

$49.25

Vancouver

$0

Maybe you’re looking into other schools for their prestigious programs. But can you actually get a job in that field? Here are the most popular degrees in major Canadian cities, and whether you have a chance of getting employed with it there.

Calgary

Cheap rent won’t help you if you have to pay a fortune just to get to class. How much can you expect to pay for a pass?

It’s no secret that Canada is becoming increasingly urban. According to Statistics Canada, 81 per cent of Canadians live in urban centres. Compare this to the turn of the 20th century, when 63 per cent of Canadians—representing over three million people—still lived rurally.

One popular explanation is the flocking of millennials to Canada’s biggest cities. The narrative of a student leaving their small town for university in the big city is a familiar one, and according to Statistics Canada, they’re also the most likely to stay: in a satisfaction survey, young Canadians were the happiest group living in town.

But even if a student can afford tuition, living in the city has its costs—some places more than others. The Concordian, in collaboration with the national team from the Canadian University Press, gathered data on the affordability of living in Canada’s biggest and brightest cities. Specifically, the cities studied were: Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Toronto.

The following information details what the average student can expect to pay in rent, transportation (student rates) and

recreation, in addition to the job prospects in the area.

No city is completely affordable: even Vancouver—whose rent is predictably high—offers free transportation with tuition. Toronto, who suffers from high rent and transit costs, also has some of the best job prospects in the country. If you plan on going out for a night on the town, Halifax has the nation’s cheapest beer on average, but suffers from middling job opportunities (unless you’re a dentist).

Those considering leaving Montreal for greener pastures will find a mixed bag: out of the country’s major cities, Montreal offers the cheapest rent, with average transit costs and affordable beer. However, job seekers will have better odds elsewhere: those in health, finances, and engineering can find employment easily in Calgary and Toronto. It should be noted that health care professionals of all stripes are in high demand across the country, regardless of location.

While studying, the vast majority of students get by on minimum wage.

While Quebec offers $10.55 an hour, other provinces (including those with high rent) make a lot more: your hourly toil is worth $11.25 in Ontario, and $11.20 in Alberta. Those willing to brave the cold can earn $12.50 an hour working in the Northwest Territories, the highest minimum wage in the country.

Ottawa

City

is (unsurprisingly) the most expensive, with an average of $1,668 for a two-bedroom apartment.

Vancouver

Toronto

Ottawa

Montreal

Halifax

Calgary

Price

Montreal

Average price of rent (two bedrooms)

$1000

$0

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STUDENT LIFE

Beyond tuition

$2000

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LIFE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015 LIFE EDITOR CRISTINA SANZA life@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

FASHION

A model’s life: less glamour than meets the eye An inside look into the career of a high-fashion model who lives in Montreal VALERIE NADEAU Contributor While fashion models are often dressed to the nines, their lives are not as glamourous as their outfits. Just ask 20-year-old Quebec model Jenna Castilloux.

It was never Castilloux’s goal to be a model—she just happened to be in the right place at the right time. She met a fashion stylist at a fair who introduced her to a famous Montreal photographer.

The photographer saw potential in her and introduced her to Chantale Nadeau, her agent.

Castilloux has modeled high-end clothing from Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent, had her hair and makeup done by professional stylists and has travelled to beautiful destinations. However, this is as far as the glamour goes.

“You travel all alone all the time, which gets really lonely at some point,” she said.

“The lifestyle of a model is not stable.

You live out of your luggage, with no real home or real ‘friends.’” All the relationships created are temporary, she said.

“The biggest pressure is when your agent comments on your weight,” said Castilloux, who said she is familiar with such comments. “Having to lose weight when your BMI is already under the normal is hard enough, but the time period in which they give you to lose

Castilloux has worked for Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent.

Photo courtesy of Jenna Castilloux. [the weight] is not humanly possible.”

Losing weight is accomplished either by juicing, which means only drinking vegetable juices for a week to lose all the water weight, or starving, she said.

“When a model is given one week to lose that ‘extra’ inch or two off your hips to get that money contract, we’ll most likely do anything,” she said. “When you are constantly getting judged on your hip and waist measurements and are constantly being told to lose weight no matter how skinny you are, those measurements become an obsession.”

The paycheque is the biggest advantage of the job, she said. “The hourly rate is unbelievable for a student,”

she said. Meeting people from all over the world, she said, is also a plus.

A model does not usually have just one agency, but one in every major city. At a destination, the agency will provide them with accommodations.

“You have to share a tiny room with four other girls,” she said. “Most of those apartments are dirty and some of the heating, hot water, air conditioning and sinks are broken. Not to mention that the other models that you live with steal your belongings.”

Castilloux’s top contract was with one of the most famous houses of fashion— Saint Laurent, working with Hedi Slimane. She walked for their prêt-à-

porter runway show twice and worked for the showroom to sell the collection.

She also worked for Louis Vuitton, with designer Nicolas Ghesquière as her fitting model. Although it is gratifying to work closely with such an important designer, Castilloux said it was one of the worst jobs she’s had to do. Since the clothes are often being sewn on the model’s body, the needle pricks the model numerous times during the fitting, she said.

Her most memorable visit was to Tokyo. She lived there for a month and modelled for Giorgio Armani makeup, Vogue Japan and Elle Japan. “Living in Japan is one of my most cherished memories I will hold from this whole experience,” she said. “The culture shock was mesmerizing.”

Currently, Castilloux is still modeling but only in Montreal to pay rent. Over time, she became bored with modelling and she realized she didn’t want to pursue it full-time anymore. It made her unhappy, and she became mentally bored with the job, she said.

“To me, being a model meant shutting up and being pretty,” she said.

“As a model you’re not really allowed to have an opinion, nor does anyone ask for your opinion. You just do what they ask you to do.”

“Over the past year, I’ve come to the conclusion that the lifestyle wasn’t for me, so I decided to go back to school to pursue what I really like,” she said.

She is currently studying at McGill University with a goal to pursue a career in neuroscience.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

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VIDEO GAMES

Halo 5: Guardians dazzles upon release

The latest installment in the Halo franchise is full of crisp graphics and difficulty spikes ALEXANDER COLE Sports editor

Halo 5: Guardians has been Microsoft’s most hyped up game ever since releasing the Xbox One in November of 2013.

The game was hyped for good reason because Halo 5 is one of the best games of the new generation of consoles.

Just minutes into starting up the campaign, the game treats you to some of the best graphics available on consoles to date. The visuals are crisp and refined all while running at a smooth 60 frames per second. Character models look extremely realistic and animations feel fluid with drops in framerate few and far between.

Aside from beautiful visuals, the gameplay throughout the campaign is extremely fun and challenging. While playing the game on normal difficulty, I felt myself experiencing the same struggles I would have if I were playing on the heroic difficulty in one of the previous games.

The difficulty spikes are annoying at times but make the player think fast and find new strategies which is something the

Halo franchise has been lacking. Much of the game’s difficulty is attributed to the new class of enemies and the game’s new villain.

All of the levels are unique and provide the players with gorgeous landscapes to explore. One drawback to the level design is that much of it is linear. The game forces you to take one specific road to the objective. However, there were a few times where there were multiples angles to complete the objective.

While the game’s story is quite intense and compelling, there were many times where the plot was left unexplained and characters were left uncharacterized. Due to the lack of characterization, I felt myself not caring that much about Master Chief’s new teammates. The same could be said for the members of Spartan Team Osiris.

Despite these little indiscretions, the campaign is simply incredible. The story takes the gamer into a brand new direction and provides one of the most compelling twists for those who have followed the game since Halo 1. The last third of the game makes up for the lack of development in the first two.

Halo 5 also excels in multiplayer. Ever since Halo: Reach, fans have been asking for a multiplayer experience that resembles Halo 3’s more simplistic style of gameplay. Those who wanted that will not be disappointed as 343 has brought back Arena slayer. The game mode starts you off with an assault rifle and a magnum.

Then, it’s up to the player to control the power weapons and dominate the game.

For those who want a whole new take on Halo multiplayer, Warzone is the way to go. This 12v12 game mode is some of the most fun I have ever had with a Halo game. The Requisition pack system is extremely intuitive and doesn’t provide anybody with an unfair advantage. The gameplay in this mode is fast and fluid while also adding strategic elements into the mix.

Another great aspect about the multiplayer is that games are easy to find. The matchmaking process takes only seconds and I have not experienced any lag as of yet which has been a problem for Halo servers in the past.

With some of the best graphics and gameplay you could ask for, Halo 5 is a must buy for any Halo fan or Xbox One owner.

I give it a 9/10.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

EVENT

Sexual assault educator Julie Lalonde talks sexual violence Forget feeling awkward, bystander intervention can help us prevent worse situations for victims KATYA TEAGUE Contributor A presentation hosted by Concordia’s Sexual Assault Resource Centre on Nov. 4 discussed the idea of consent and how bystander intervention is a straightforward and effective way to prevent sexual violence.

“There’s this idea that consent is this really complicated feminist thing that, if I actually follow it, I would never have a good time,” said award-winning guest speaker Julie Lalonde, a sexual assault educator.

Her dissection of the Canadian law about consent presented four simple characteristics: it must be voluntary, sober, enthusiastic and never assumed.

In order to address bystander intervention, Lalonde presented the audience with a scenario: you see your wasted

friend stagger out of the bar with some guy. Do you stay and keep dancing?

The interactive format of the presentation allowed for a discussion about why someone might keep dancing. Fear of getting involved or getting hurt and the desire to avoid being awkward were among the main culprits.

“The amount of things that we do in our lives to avoid awkward moments is really fascinating,” said Lalonde.

One audience member said she could not understand the concept that a small thing such as awkwardness could keep a person from preventing something awful.

“Why should I be afraid to be awkward?” she asked. “I’m saying the truth. I’m doing the right thing. I shouldn’t feel awkward—I should feel good about myself.”

Lalonde said she wished everyone felt that way, but because that isn’t the reality, we need to hold workshops like this one.

Attendees browse Draw The Line postcards before the talk.

Julie Lalonde is the founder of a bystander intervention campaign called Draw The Line. Photos by Michelle Gamage.

“If something feels off, the easiest, most non-confrontational thing that you can do is to check in with the person,” said Lalonde, adding that it’s not awkward and is “oftentimes the only thing you need to do.”

Lalonde addressed the concern for personal safety with a list of simple and safe ways that a person can step in and potentially prevent a situation from escalating to sexual assault.

Audience members laughed as Lalonde imitated the “awkward dance” a person does to put themselves between their friend and a guy who won’t leave her alone on the dance floor. Other tips included making up excuses about people waiting for them or that a third friend is sick and needs to be taken home, now.

In simple terms, bystander intervention is “when we have each other’s backs,” said Lalonde.

Lalonde left the audience with three rules about how to intervene as a bystander: Call out the behaviour. “If what’s stopping you [from intervening] is this idea that he’s going to get mad at me, then that’s exactly why you need to intervene,” said Lalonde.

Support the person who is being targeted. “The consequences for drinking too much should be a hangover, not sexual assault,” said Lalonde. Regardless of your opinion on drinking or sexting or hooking up, you are not there to dish out judgement, she added.

Speak out. Sexting is consensual.

Spreading naked pictures of someone without their knowledge or consent is online sexual violence. Call it like it is, said Lalonde, adding that “the way in which we talk about this shapes what we do about it.”

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

SEX

Sexually Speaking: Exploring sex toys From butt plugs to dildos, using toys can amplify and improve your sex life CARL BINDMAN Staff writer “Feel it,” she said, taking it out of the packaging. “Isn’t it so lifelike?”

I felt it.

“Feels like a penis,” I said.

It wasn’t a penis, though. It was a dildo, handed to me by Karine Beaumont, an employee at Boutique Érotique Romance.

One of several in Montreal, the store sells everything from costumes to lubricants, fetish gear, porn, books, ropes, condoms, chocolates, games and, yes—a panoply of toys. Lifelike penises. Not-atall-lifelike penises. Vibrating cock rings.

Vibrating vibrators. Strap-on harnesses.

Kegel-exercise balls. Anal beads. Anal plugs. Everything.

“We do good business,” said Eliane Fraser, another employee at Boutique Érotique. “We sell a lot.”

Why? Is nobody satisfied by their partner? Is everybody doing sex wrong?

Is everybody masturbating wrong? That can’t be right.

“It’s something different,” said Dr. Laurie Betito, psychologist and sex therapist. “It gives a bit of a leg up, if you will.” Betito has been hosting CJAD’s sex and relationships show, Passion, since 1999. “It’s used to enhance sexuality.”

The variety of toys provides a variety of enhancements. For couples, Fraser and Beaumont pointed out the popularity of vibrating cock rings—for mutual pleasure, they said. Most solo toys can be used by couples too—they said the very lifelike penis was often used with strap-ons.

“But don’t just show up with 10-inch dildo and say ‘hey, let’s do this,’” Betito said. “As an enhancer it’s great, but first you have to talk about it.”

Talking is hard sometimes. Not just because it might be awkward to ask for a little something extra—but if sex is bad, nobody wants to insult their partner. And if sex is good but you want it to be great, your partner might think you feel the sex is bad but that you just like using euphemisms.

Beaumont said that when people are too shy to criticize, “they’ll just turn to sex toys because they know how to please themselves.”

What if someone doesn’t know how?

“You have to learn about yourself before going with a partner,” Fraser said. “We can show you so many things that will help you discover [yourself].”

Fraser and Beaumont say most people are poorly educated about toys—some women come in asking for speculums because 50 Shades of Grey featured one as a toy. Beaumont talked about their client who was wheelchairbound, had never had a sexual partner, and couldn’t masturbate. Their manager helped him find a toy that simulated

masturbation, giving him a release he would never otherwise have.

That being said, amazing self-pleasure is a double-sided dildo. Err, doubleedged sword. “When you get very [accustomed] to one certain way of having an orgasm and then you can’t get that same sensation with a partner … you have to practice other ways to get your body accustomed,” said Betito.

There are other potential drawbacks too, according to Betito.

“I always say start off small, with a small vibrator, a clitoral stimulator and work your way up. It’s the same for butt plugs, anal toys. Explore slowly.”

That’s where sex shops come in handy. Beaumont and Fraser don’t call themselves salespeople for a reason.

“We’re like counselors,” they said.

Online stores won’t tell you to use toys with flared bases for anal play. Online stores won’t tell you silicone-based lubricant will ruin your new $80 vibrator.

“Plus, it’s a great way to explore your own body and what it can do for you,” said Betito. “It’s always a good thing when you know your body.”

So, ask. In the end, Beaumont said it best: “It’s better to be a little uncomfortable at the cash than to go to the hospital with something stuck in your bum.”

When exploring the world of sex toys, it is best to start slow and less intense. Photo courtesy of Boutique Romance.

GAMING

Is it a smart move to pre-order a video game?

Hype is built around games so much that we want buy them before they even release ROBIN STANFORD Staff writer All gamers have done it at some point. In a moment of weakness, when our friends weren’t looking. We got excited and turned over our hard-earned money before we saw the finished product.

We pre-ordered.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, pre-ordering is the practice of buying a video game before it’s released. Usually there is some small benefit for the consumer to entice this behaviour such as an exclusive piece of downloadable content or an alternate character for gameplay.

It should be noted that very few retailers allow full refunds on opened copies of games. Likewise, few digital retailers allow refunds, making preorders a pseudo-final sale.

For years, websites such as Rock Paper Shotgun, Polygon, Kotaku and Forbes have been warning consumers of the danger of pre-ordering video games. Late last month news broke that suggested that some gamers may be listening.

The latest instalment in the Assassin’s Creed series, Syndicate, launched on Oct. 23. By Oct. 26, Playstation Universe

revealed the game had had the lowest first week sales in the entire history of the series. Sales increased in its second week.

Players were waiting for game reviews before trusting the franchise’s latest offering.

Could this be the beginning of the end of the pre-order phenomenon?

Maybe, but probably not.

Instead, this can be viewed as customers saying that game publishers need to reearn their trust after being burned so many times by broken and mediocre games.

Ubisoft executive Alain Martinez stated in a teleconference on Nov. 5, “clearly, in our first week, we were impacted by what happened with Assassin’s Creed Unity.” The previous entry in the series, Unity, launched in 2014 as a broken game which took months for the company to fix.

It will be interesting to see in the future if this becomes a trend for some companies.

For example, will PC gamers similarly stop pre-ordering Warner Bros titles?

As of Oct. 31, according to the game’s Steam page, Batman: Arkham Knight has still not been fixed and may never see completion. The publisher is planning to keep customers updated.

It seems as if gamers may be realizing that there is very little reason to buy games on or before launch day.

Most perks offered by publishers are cosmetic additions or content that will be eventually included in the season pass or

game of the year edition.

Those who benefit most from pre-orders are the publishers as they promote game sales before any reviews have come out.

As stated in article by gaming writer Dave Thier for Forbes on Oct. 12, companies like pre-order games because they’re safe. It’s how “EA considered SimCity a ‘success,’ even after one of the worst launches in recent memory.”

There once was a time in our child-

hood where scarcity demanded that we reserve a copy of the latest SEGA or Nintendo game, but it’s no longer like this.

Players need to think what they are getting out of by buying games before release and if it’s worth it.

As Jim Walker from Rock Paper Shotgun wrote, it’s like “paying for your meal at a restaurant before the kitchens are built, and months before the food critics have been in, let alone before you’ve been able to even read a proper menu.”

Gaming companies have pre-orders to ensure sales, but for the gamer, sometimes it’s a gimmick. Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

ARTS

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

FILM

Cinemania welcomes Palme d’Or winner

The lead actor of Dheepan is one of the guests celebrated by the francophone film festival

Antonythasan Jesuthasan was a writer before Jacques Audiard discovered him through an audition. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

Director: Jacques Audiard Cast: Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasa Running time: 109 minutes

ELIJAH BUKREEV Co-arts editor After Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan unexpectedly won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes film festival, many people suddenly found themselves able to point

out Sri Lanka on a world map.

The tale of a refugee family’s move to France struck a chord for obvious reasons—refugee crises are some of the most reported on stories of the year.

The film makes no attempt to speak for all refugees or make a grand political statement—in part, it’s a drama about alienation and in part an exploration of crime in some of the dangerous suburbs of Paris. Antonythasan Jesuthasan, who played the lead character, describes it as a love story, as well as a story about people who slowly become a family. In fact, the catch is that the father, moth-

er and daughter who come to France are in no way related—they were given false identities in order to flee Sri Lanka. They must keep up appearances in order to fit in, while struggling to fit in—even with each other.

Audiard wrote the story with the help of two screenwriters, uncertain that he would even find actors who fit the profiles of his characters. Asked how he got involved with the project, Jesuthasan answers bluntly—“Audition.” That is a wonder, as Jesuthasan fit the profile written for him perfectly. He is himself a Sri Lankan refugee who was, like his character, once a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam—a terrorist organization as classified by 32 countries—and lived in a suburb of Paris similar to the one depicted in Dheepan.

While Jesuthasan had little acting experience, he described, with the help of an interpreter, how acting was always something he was fond of—he took part in traditional shows starting at the age of 10, and during his time in the LTTE he worked on cultural events rather than war. Later, he worked in theatre and since 2001 has been a published writer.

While he was not involved in the screenplay for Dheepan, he adapted the dialogue from French to Tamil, his moth-

er tongue, and came up with the title— Dheepan is the name which his character goes by in France. Most of the film is spoken in Tamil, which made Jesuthasan’s work all the more important. “I was the one who taught the actors to speak [the language],” he said, referring to the fact that his co-stars were born in India and France, not Sri Lanka.

While Jesuthasan insisted that Dheepan had no political agenda, he said it was unlikely that the film would ever be released in Sri Lanka because of its criticism towards the Sri Lankan government and its depiction of war crimes. Despite his continued efforts as a writer, Jesuthasan admits that there is little chance of bringing about change in Sri Lanka through literature or film. “If we could change something, we would have done it 30 years ago,” he said.

However, Dheepan managed to raise public awareness of Sri Lankan issues, and speaking out about such issues is surely a start.

Discover Dheepan and many other films at the Cinemania film festival, which celebrates the best of francophone cinema every year. The festival runs from Nov. 5 to Nov. 15, most screenings take place at the Imperial Theatre.

FILM

RIDM to screen Chantal Akerman’s last film The Montreal International Documentary Festival pays tribute to the late Belgian icon ELIJAH BUKREEV Co-arts editor Last month, the world lost Chantal Akerman. The Belgian auteur is mainly known as a feminist and experimental artist, but she carefully avoided labels throughout her life—it is simply as a distinguished filmmaker that she will be paid tribute by the RIDM, Montreal’s International Documentary Festival.

Her last film, No Home Movie, is not the kind of documentary that throws data at you or reads you a lecture. It’s a deeply personal and demanding video essay that presents you with images and words and rarely explains what the meaning behind them is.

The subject of the film is the director’s mother, a Holocaust survivor who lived some of her last days in the presence of Akerman’s camera. By the time the film is over, her mother has passed away, which is, as many things in Akerman’s work, implicit—her voice gets deeper; her cough gets stronger; her grown children’s request to tell them a story remains unanswered; and her apartment eventually empties itself of her.

Chantal Akerman’s static camera captures some of her mother’s last days.

All of this is intercut with ambiguously long shots of nature. A four-minute shot of a tree in the wind opens the film.

Another one, captured from a moving car’s window, shows a desertic landscape. What is Akerman trying to say?

Is she commenting on the fact that her mother, from her cosy Brussels apartment, will never be able to witness these sights? No voiceover is provided, and

the viewer is left on their own to reflect on how many mysteries died with both these women.

“Tell me, why are you filming me like that?” asks Akerman’s mother in one of their Skype conversations. “Because I want to show that there is no distance in the world,” answers Akerman. Her camera later zooms into her mother’s face as if that could help shorten the distance

between them—they speak from different continents.

Much of the film was shot at the mother’s home in Brussels, but the title should tell you that this is not what you’d call a home movie. The camera captures conversations, some involving Akerman, others without her, some inconsequential and barely audible, while others scratch the surface of the mother’s wartime trauma.

This isn’t a home movie, and I’m not even sure that it’s cinema, but it expresses a daughter’s feelings for her mother in the way she intended it. If geographical distance has been in part vanquished through technology, death, concisely illustrated by a vacant space, cannot be helped. Or perhaps as long as a film exists, a person can live on, in a perpetual loop—there lived in Brussels a woman by the name of Natalia Akerman. As No Home Movie starts, she is alive. As it ends, she has passed away.

One of the pleasures of a film is that it can be rewound.

The RIDM runs from Nov. 12 to Nov. 22.

No Home Movie will be screened at the Excentris Movie Theatre on Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 8 p.m.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

LECTURE

Research and creation should go hand in hand Joan Jonas was a keynote speaker at Re-Create presented on Nov. 5 at Concordia

The first keynote speech took place on Nov. 5 in the Hall building’s Alumni Auditorium. Photos by Marie-Pierre Savard.

LYDIA ANDERSON Co-arts editor @LydiaAndersonn

R

esearch itself is the discovery and presentation of ideas, concepts and theories and it can be said that art shares these functions. What happens when research is accompanied by and connected with artistic/creative practices?

This concept was discussed at a conference held at Concordia this week. Media Art Histories—an Austrian organization providing a platform for conferences and more about media art—is celebrating its 10th anniversary and from Nov. 4 to Nov. 8 Concordia University, along with UQÀM, hosted their sixth international Media Art Histories conference. The Montreal edition went by the name of Re-Create 2015: Theories, Methods and Practices of Research-Creation in the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology.

“Research-creation,” in a vague sense, is the convergence of artistic and creative practices with research—something that can be said to be an increasingly hot topic in the academic world. According to the press release for Re-Create, it “combines theory and practice by connecting interpretative disciplines (humanities) with creative practices (arts and design).” This concept was explored in the conference through the use of dialogue, discourse, artwork, presentation and more. Eightyone researchers from 21 different countries were represented. The conference was made up of three keynote presentations, the Emerging Researchers’ Symposium (presentations, plenaries and more), the “Bridge” session (a discussion), five public presentations and several exhibitions and satellite activities.

According to the information found on Re-Create’s press release, their use of keynote speakers was to “broaden [the] understanding of the different contexts and aspects of research-creation,” from

each speaker’s unique backgrounds and presentations. The first of these speakers to present was Joan Jonas on Nov. 5 in Concordia’s Hall building.

One of Jonas’s biggest, most recent projects was an exhibit named They Come to Us without a Word at the United States Pavilion at the Venice Biennale this year—the third project that has been presented at this venue by the MIT List Visual Arts Center. According to her biography on the project’s website, Jonas “is a pioneer of video and performance art, and an acclaimed multimedia artist.” The web page describes Jonas to have been a central figure in ‘60s and ‘70s in the performance art movement, with work that remains relevant for the development of some contemporary art genres. Jonas has been a professor at MIT since 1998 and currently teaches in the Art, Culture, and Technology program within the School of Architecture and Planning.

In her keynote lecture Jonas presented a wide array of the work she produced and performed over the years, highlighting the threads, inspirations and concepts that run through them. The audience was presented with details of what sparked certain projects of hers, her views on props that she recurrently used, what things or experiences draw her personally and more.

Jonas noted some of her inspirations, such as Hilda Doolittle, as well as things that largely influence her work, like travel. For example, she mentioned Japan to be a place that both influenced some of her notable work in the ‘70s as well as the physical structuring of one of her gallery setups later on in her career. She brought up her recurringly presented idea of “inside and outside,” the relation between personal ideas coming from her interacting with what was going on in the world around her, as well as her consistent draw to fairy tales, ghost stories, ritual, mirrors, animals and more.

“It was ... not only her engagement with

Joan Jonas is said to be a pioneer of video and performance art. new media at the time or interests in the new media of video, but also her knowledge and passion for research, specifically for art history, poetry, literature, history, and cinema … which allowed [Jonas] to weave together various stories and inspirations,” said Barbara Clausen, the UQÀM respondent, or host, for the lecture.

“When I began my work I studied art history and sculpture, and research, of course, has always … been part of the development and process of anybody studying or making anything. Research … it goes without saying, [is] part of the process,” said Jonas.

And as much as research-creation can entail the utilization of creative or artistic practices for academic research, it can also be linked with the way research serves the creation of artwork as

well. “I’m researching all the time … I call it reading, going to the library—I don’t really like to call it research. But it is just an integral part of my work as it is of many people’s work,” said Jonas.

The lecture presented the audience with an overview of Jonas’s work and the ideas and themes it has presented over the years. This allowed for the exploration of a notable artist and media art as a whole, but also inspired thought on the role that research plays in its relationship with artwork. Perhaps now more than ever, the academic world is ready for a more rampant integration of artistic creativity and scholarly research.

To learn more about Media Art Histories visit their website at mediaarthistory.org.

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THEATRE

Vengeance and war crimes: Butcher is here Four characters on one twisted night, Centaur Theatre’s play is on until Nov. 29 ERDENE BATZORIG Contributor Before the play started, I heard a few people behind me talking about how they fell asleep at another play they saw and how they hoped this wouldn’t be as boring. It is safe to say that they were wide awake the whole 83 minutes.

I have an analogy for Butcher. It’s like a box within a box, within a box. Now, imagine those boxes unfolding with the utmost grace and in slow-motion. Once you reach the last box, and you open it, the revelation you discover both scares you and takes your breath away.

The story takes place in a Toronto police station on Christmas Eve. Four characters spend an unforgettable and twisted night together: Hamilton Barnes, a rather uptight and proper lawyer; a chatty inspector with bad jokes; a mystery man wearing a general’s uniform and a butcher’s hook around his neck with Barnes’ business card on it, and Elena, the translator.

The play escalates from a mundane day at the office to an immaculately planned out revenge plot.

Chip Chuipka, James Loye and Al Goulem star in Concordia graduate Nicolas Billon’s new play.

The man in the General’s uniform turns out to be a war criminal known as “the Butcher,” targeted by a revenge-seeking, ruthless and very creative organization. Elena, a former war prisoner, is fueled by a personal vendetta against the Butcher and has come to serve justice.

It was hard to sympathize with both parties, but it was also hard to despise them. Essentially, both the Butcher and Elena were instruments of war. The Butcher, poisoned by the power of his job, put extra effort into punishing the prisoners and keeping them in line. His

heinous actions in turn had far more destructive results than just keeping prisoners from escaping the concentration camps. The consequences of his actions forever tainted the lives of his victims and fueled revenge and hatred that would be carried on in an endless cycle.

At the beginning, you don’t really understand why the poor lawyer Barnes is there. He doesn’t even understand why he is there. Soon enough, you see Barnes’ connection to the whole thing and in one of the many plot twists, Barnes becomes somewhat of a Pandora’s box and the key to the play’s battle of morals.

Barnes serves as a portal through which the play expresses human vulnerabilities, flaws and suffering.

Another winning factor for the play is the writing. The dialogue in Butcher is a duet between English and the madeup language of “Lavanian.” Playwright Nicolas Billon came up with the Slavic-sounding language with the help of linguistics professors at the University of Toronto just for the play.

Although most of the Lavanian spoken in the play is translated into English, the scene in which the Butcher is describing one of his crimes in the concentration camps leaves the gory details untranslated. The tactful way the scene was set up gives plenty of room for the audience to get an idea of what he was saying.

Even though the play is about vengeance and hatred, it also showcased chivalry, honour and dignity. Butcher was a well-oiled machine that served thrills and squalls while challenging the audience’s psyche and morale.

Butcher will be showing at Centaur Theatre until Nov. 29. Tickets for students cost $28. More information at centaurtheatre.com.

EXHIBIT

Brazilian art gets a gargantuan treatment

The DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art presents Imagine Brazil in Old Montreal MARIA BUKREEV Staff writer After France, Norway, Qatar and Brazil, it’s now Canada’s turn to host the successful exhibit Imagine Brazil, presented at the DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art. With its two buildings dedicated to the exhibit, the non-profit organization aims to promote contemporary art by making it accessible for everyone. In fact, it is free and also open on the weekends.

Imagine Brazil was brought up by three curators and 45 Brazilian artists. It all started when Gunnar B. Kvaran, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Thierry Raspail—curators working respectively at Oslo’s Astrup Fearnley Museet, London’s Serpentine Galleries and Lyon’s Contemporary Art Museum—became interested in Brazil’s rich culture and particularly the way its art has evolved. After conducting some research and visiting contemporary art exhibits, they chose 14 young artists to recruit. These artists were making original artwork, often denouncing environmental or political issues such as the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest or the horrors of the ‘30s during dictator Getúlio Vargas. The 14 artists then invited 13 more established Brazilian artists that they admired to join them in an exhibit that would promote their culture on a large scale. Given that artist books, which is art presented in a book format, are very popular in Brazil, a different exhibit featuring 18 other young artists

Folds by Adriana Varejão looks like an artistic rendering of an autopsy.

Photos by Andrej Ivanov. who work with that format was included within Imagine Brazil.

As a complement to the exhibit, the curators decided to write a catalogue that would give the public a better understanding of Brazilian art and the artists featured in Imagine Brazil. As the curators mention in their book, which can be purchased at DHC/ART. “Given our awareness of the fact that knowledge of Brazilian Contemporary art in Europe and other parts of the world was quite poor, and that we could never produce an exhaustive presentation of such a complex scene in general, it became imperative at least to produce a

catalogue that could reflect the richness of contemporary art in Brazil.”

This catalogue is a very detailed review of current and past art movements in Brazil, but also contains an analysis of each artist’s work as it relates to events unfolding in their country.

Imagine Brazil illustrates well the different forms of art currently popular in Brazil—statues, mural artwork, video art and expressionist paintings can indeed be found mixed together.

In each room, there are so many works presented that the visitor finds himself almost trapped within the installation. Some of the rooms are unlit, which

gives them a mysterious appearance, and makes the visitor rely on their other senses to explore their surroundings.

Imagine Brazil is an exhibit that allows you to transport yourself into another reality and a completely different culture. As the curators explained in the book, “In a sense, Brazil inspires the imagination; it is a country of spectacular nature and magic, and of ethnic and social diversity.”

The exhibit will be open to the public until March 13, 2016 at the DHC/ART location in the Old Montreal. Guided tours are available upon request.

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MUSIC

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015 MUSIC EDITOR SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER music@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

PROFILE

Exploring the colorful world of ODESZA Though still young, ODESZA are well on their way to conquering the electronic scene

Made up of duo Harrison Mills (left) and Clayton Knight (right), ODESZA are currently touring the Deluxe version of their sophomore record, In Return.

EMMETT STOWE Staff writer

W

ave after wave of ethereal melodies backed by thundering bass and layers of tribal percussion are molded from the four hands of ODESZA. Sonic influences stem from hip-hop instrumentals to ambient music, but mainly psychedelic, textured electronic such as the likes of M83, Emancipator, Animal Collective and Tycho.

ODESZA consists of Harrison Mills (aka CatacombKid) and Clayton Knight (aka BeachesBeaches), who met in college. “We didn’t really know about each other but we were kind of the only people making weird electronic music out there, where funk, indie, and punk music were the big things on the scene where I went. We got introduced through a musical friend, we swapped music back and forth, and then got some studio time which was basically us hanging out in my basement.”

Since the release of their first album Summer’s Gone and a number of bustling world tours, ODESZA has released two more albums, My Friends Never Die and In Return, with numerous singles reaching the number one spot on music aggregator Hype Machine.

They are currently in the middle of a world tour in which they have sold out

over half of their shows.

They’ve also just recently started their own label called Foreign Family Collective, an outlet for musicians as well as visual artists. “It’s been a project of Harris’ and mine for a long time but we’ve only recently had the means to pull it off. Right now it’s a label that we’ve put together to give artists the chance to share their music with a larger audience. We’re only doing singles right now but hopefully we can go past that in the future.”

ODESZA can relate with many of the smaller artists and bands out there, waiting to be heard and discovered.

“There’s so much talent out there, especially in the production world and a lot of it just gets swept under the rug because there’s so much going on, so we try and give light to these artists and producers. Recently we’ve had a couple do really well. Kasbo is on tour with us right now and he has a killer single. But yeah it’s just kind of weird electronic, it’s an outlet for art that we think deserves a little more push.”

In only three years, the duo have defied the odds and accomplished more than many do in their entire careers. When asked what truly defines ODESZA, Knight modestly answers, “two dudes who like electronic music, hanging out and trying to do some cool things.”

What really makes an artist is not what appears at first glance but the lasting value of their content, which can only be found when one takes the time to explore the sonic landscape they’ve created. Bringing us to the heart of the world of ODESZA, Knight describes the basic process of how their sound comes together in the creation and structuring of a song. “We’re big fans of layering stuff. We usually start by writing everything in really simple instrumentation. I’m a piano player so I write basically everything on piano.”

Knight and Mills also introduce other instruments into the mix to grant the material more variety and mood. “We’ll do piano roots, then layer it with some weird instrumentation, or noise basically, to give it some more texture and feel. For percussion, we take a standard snare and then we layer stuff on top of it and to get a pretty unique substance.”

In describing their colour and tonality, Knight is upfront about their influences. “We’re big fans of tribal music and world music, so a lot of our drum stuff would fall under that. We love those kind of eastern sounds and just kind of all over the place percussive elements, and the weirder it is the cooler it sounds. But the harmonies and chord progressions are based in a pop element. That’s what kind of gives it its pop feel: the pretty simple chord

progressions and pretty melodies.

But then you put it with weirder instrumentation and it becomes a sound that’s pretty unique.”

Where the sounds of ODESZA really come to life though is at their shows.

This is where immersion becomes paramount, from the rattling bass shaking the ground and the melodies seamlessly flowing, to the lights and visuals that add another dimension to the whole experience. What makes ODESZA’s live shows unique however is their use of live instrumentation. “We love incorporating live elements into the electronic music scene. We’ve upped our production quite a bit. Our visuals are pretty awesome. We’ll have two horn players and a guitar player. We blend live instrumentation with electronic elements to give a wide pallet of sound.”

ODESZA blends together experimentation and intricate electronica to create a warm, dreamlike landscape brimming with life and waiting to be explored. Though the duo are just getting started, their collaborations have already ushered a unique and wonderful voice to the electronic music scene, one that will not easily go unnoticed.

Catch ODESZA at L’Olympia on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., assuming you got your tickets already; the show is sold out.

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CONCERTS

Four killer fall concerts you shouldn’t ignore Though the year is almost over, there’s still a slew of exciting bands coming to town SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER Music editor Parquet Courts Though many post-punk revivalist outfits have focused on the dissonant, textured and cold details of bands like The Fall and Joy Division in crafting their sound, Parquet Courts owe more of their sound to

The Feelies. Combining the clean and fuzzy interplay of the seminal 80’s postpunk band with a more serrated garage rock aesthetic and lyrics dripping with snark, Parquet Courts have already left a sizable mark on the current indie rock landscape. Punctuated by driving basslines, dueling jangly guitars and a thrilling, live-wire energy, Parquet Courts’ brand of frenzied harmony and lackadaisical charm make them the perfect act to close out a great year.

Parquet Courts play La Sala Rossa on Dec. 8.

Protest The Hero Technically unimpeachable and proudly Canadian, progressive metal outfit Protest the Hero have endured countless mutations over the course of their almost 15-year journey. As the band’s technical prowess reached new dizzying heights, so did their impeccable ear for harmony and dissonance, melding the two into a fulfilling and impressively forward-thinking package. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of their seminal debut Kezia, the band have embarked on a North American tour, performing in intimate venues as a gesture of goodwill to die-hard fans. Playing the album in its entirety, Protest the Hero is sure to put on a nostalgic and emotional show for all attending.

Protest the Hero play Les Foufounes Électriques on Nov. 21.

Mitski brings her lovely brand of noise pop to Montreal.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Dorsa.

Mitski Though often compared to singer/ songwriter Angel Olsen, Mitski’s brand of indie rock shares more in common with the power pop acts of the early 90’s. Utilizing the sparseness of certain songs to stunning immediacy, her scorching fuzz pedal is always a mere step away, ready to engulf everything that stands. The results are blissful, emotional and steeped

in noisy guitars reminiscent of Weezer’s Pinkerton. Amidst the cacophonic crunch, Mitski even employs a number of uncommon instruments to grant the soundscape more variety, including a spooky theremin on “Townie,” the fiery lead single from her critically lauded breakthrough album Bury Me at Makeout Creek. Fans of Pixies, Weezer and PJ Harvey owe it themselves to catch this exciting new voice in concert.

Mitski plays Casa del Popolo on Nov. 24.

King Crimson One of progressive rock’s pioneers and one of the most influential bands in modern music, King Crimson starts and ends with its mastermind, guitarist and songwriter Robert Fripp. Having gone through countless lineup changes, Fripp stands as the pillar of the band, enlisting immensely talented performers and pushing them to their absolute limits with each new incarnation of the band. Currently in their eighth and featuring a grand total of three drummers, including R.E.M. and Swans percussionist Bill Rieflin, King Crimson’s unique brand of improvised chaos is not to be missed.

King Crimson play Théâtre St-Denis on Nov. 16 and 17.

QUICKSPINS

Majesty Da God — The Apollo EP (80 Entertainment, 2015)

Hopsin— Pound Syndrome (Funk Volume/Warner Bros, 2015)

J Dilla - Dillatronic (Vintage Vibez Music Group, 2015)

MED, Blu & Madlib — Bad Neighbor (Bang Ya Head Ent., 2015)

The latest project by hip-hop artist Majesty Da God invites you into his world, starting with its infectious opener “My City;” a deep bass line hooks the listener in as Majesty pays homage to his hometown of Los Angeles. “Too High” features a haunting version of Britney Spears’ hit song “Toxic,” complemented by an intense hiphop beat, creating musical dissonance. It’s arguably the EP’s best track, where two drastic musical genres effortlessly collide.

Lyrical themes include family hardships, confidence and success—Majesty Da God is unafraid to let his emotions take center stage. From big band horns in “Come Back,” to groovy violin licks in “I Wonder,” experimentation is certainly heard. Not every track can stand completely alone, but Majesty Da God packs enough solid gems to make The Apollo EP a trip worth taking.

Obvious and often unlistenable, Pound Syndrome is yet another on-the-nose polemic by L.A.-born rapper and self-described bullshit detector Hopsin. Evoking Eminem, Hopsin doubles down on the nastiness, evoking a 12-year-old on an internet message board in his pointlessly cruel insults and soapbox pandering. It’s a position made all the more ironic by his unfounded arguments; Hopsin repeatedly makes claims about hip hop’s current state that hold no water. On “No Words (Skit),” the rapper laments how “mentally retarded rappers” have taken over the game in 2015, the same year Kendrick Lamar dropped the showstopping To Pimp a Butterfly. Hopsin even takes aim at auto-tuned trap rappers before warbling like a crying Wookie on the painfully preachy “Fly.” Pound Syndrome is edgy showboating at its most unbearably desperate.

Having collaborated with such artists as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and The Roots, J Dilla was one of hip hop’s most respected and widely recognized beatmakers. Although he passed away at the young age of 32 in 2006, his name still carries a colossal weight, only eclipsed by the enormous catalogue he left behind.

This posthumous release, Dillatronic, is an eclectic mix of melodies paired with his signature raw hi-hat, snare, and bass drum kicks. While some of his songs stick with smooth jazzy electric guitar licks, such as “Dillatronic #35,” others venture deeper into the electronic world.

On certain songs, Dilla even swaps out his bass drum out for some electronic wobbling bass sounds. While this album definitely strays from traditional Dilla hiphop beats, Dillatronic still deserves a listen.

Madlib reliably brings out the best of his obscure samples on Bad Neighbor, a fifteen-track collaborative project. While the resulting instrumentals are intriguing and groovy, the album is unfortunately plagued by a muddy vocal mix that makes many of its lyrics hard to decipher. Both MED and Blu are known to be lyrically consistent and verbose and Bad Neighbor is no exception; both rappers deliver on flows, peppering verses with lines that leave you inclined to rewind. The many features on this project, from newcomers like recent Dr. Dre recruit Anderson Paak to Madlib’s right-hand man MF DOOM, add perspective and flavour to the package and make it feel like more than a simple collaboration. Though it’s not about to turn heads like the best of Madlib’s catalogue, Bad Neighbor is a solid addition overall.

Trial track: “Too High”

Trial track: “Fort Collins”

Trial track: “Dillatronic #7”

Trial track: “Finer Things”

7/10

2/10

7/10

7/10

CRISTINA SANZA

SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER

EMMETT STOWE

SIMON NEW

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR ALEXANDER COLE sports@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

MEN’S HOCKEY

A player spotlight on Jessyko Bernard This week’s athlete of the week is the men’s hockey team’s fourth year right winger ALEXANDER COLE Sports editor @a_cole39 Whether it’s the QMJHL or the CIS, Jessyko Bernard has always been a successful hockey player. Bernard is currently second in team scoring while being one of the top forwards in the RSEQ division.

At 205 lbs and 6 feet 2 inches, the Moncton native is hard to check and even harder to stop. The 24-year-old finance student is currently in his fourth year with the Stingers and is on pace to record his best season in terms of points with the team.

Ten games into the season, Bernard has scored seven goals and six assists.

His current point total is just one shy of his total from last year, a season in which he played 22 games. For Bernard, it’s his teammates who have allowed him to be successful.

“I’ve been playing with Olivier Hinse and Dany Potvin for three years now,” Bernard said. “It’s our fourth year together so we’ve built chemistry. They’ve had good starts too and I’ve been the lucky one so far.”

Bernard’s linemate Hinse, who is also the team captain, is leading the team in points with 14, which proves that the line is a force to be reckoned with. Bernard also believes that his point totals have

gone up because of his increase in effort out on the ice as opposed to last season.

Despite having a great individual season, Bernard is more focused on his team and making sure that they can prove to be a different team than they’ve been in the past.

“We’ve kind of been losing here for the past three years,” Bernard said. “We just want to prove that we’re winners in this league and we’re going for a championship. We want to go to Nationals and we have the firepower to do it.”

Before becoming a Stinger, Bernard played five seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His first two seasons were with the Halifax Mooseheads and his next two were with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Before joining the Stingers, Bernard finished his QMJHL career with the Prince Edward Island Rockets.

Bernard’s experience with the game has allowed him to become a leader on the young Stingers team.

“We have a big crop of rookies this year,” Bernard said. “It’s important to show them how it’s done in this league.

It’s a little different than junior. It’s good to just give the guys a few pointers and show them the way.”

Bernard has also felt that his time with the Stingers has shaped him into a better hockey player and has been a great step forward in his hockey career.

As it stands, the Stingers have a re-

Jessyko Bernard has seven goals and six assists in ten games.

Photo by Andrej Ivanov. cord of 3-5-2 which they will need to improve upon if they want to make the playoffs. Although, with Bernard and

his linemates continuing to generate offense, the team has the potential to turn the season around.

CURLING

Curling: A sport that’s both fun and social Taking a look at Montreal’s lesser known sports DANIELLE GASHER Staff writer Curling isn’t all what Men with Brooms says it is. Although many shamelessly mock the sport, not many know how it actually works. Let me fill you in on the basics.

There are four players on a curling team. There is the lead, the second, the third and the skip. The skip is the position most similar to one of a captain, and the third is like the assistant or wingman to the captain. Just like hockey has periods, curling has ends. On the professional level, teams usually play 10 ends.

In each end, each team plays eight rocks.

The lead plays the first two, then the opposing team plays its lead rocks, and so on and so forth.

There are circular rings on either side of the ice in a curling match. The rings, referred to as ‘the house’ is where the points are made. At the end of an end, points are given to the team with the rock or rocks closest to ‘the button.’ The most

points a team can get in an end is eight.

These ends are called eight-enders, and are even rarer than a hole-in-one in golf.

Strategy is key in curling, as getting more than a point or two per end gets increasingly tricky as you move up in levels. In competitive curling, players are able to make incredibly difficult takeouts and draws. A take-out is when your rock takes the other team’s rock out of play. The more advanced you are, the more you can make shots like double or even triple takeouts. A draw shot is when you aim for your rock to sit in the house. You would set up “guards” in the earlier shots of the end for your draws to hide behind. Professionals have incredible precision and consistency.

One of the biggest difficulties in curling is gaging the ice. Every iced area is different, and gaging the speed and feel of an ice can take a few ends. The sport is about technique, aim and anticipation.

Thinking two shots ahead is necessary.

Now let’s talk about those infamous brooms. Sweeping melts the ice in front

of the rock, smoothing the pebbling of the ice and ultimately making the rock go further because of the ice’s slickness.

If you ever watch curling, you may notice that a lot of leads and seconds are incredibly fit, as they keep themselves in shape so they can sweep like maniacs.

it keeps things friendly and keeps your head leveled. Also, drinking a beer or two with teammates and opponents after a game is always encouraged.

Curling is an incredibly social game. The sport gets you to communicate and meet new people. A shake of hands with opponents is mandatory before and after each game. Although you don’t always feel like it on the competitive level,

Most importantly, curling is a sport that can be played by the young and the old.

Now that you know the ins and outs, find a joint in the greater Montreal area, practice belting out “Sweeeeep!” and “Hurrryyyy,” show up with some friends, and dive right into it.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

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BASKETBALL

Stingers split home openers against UQÀM The women’s basketball team fell to the Citadins on Saturday while the men were victorious CASEY DULSON Staff writer

B

oth the men’s and women’s basketball teams kicked off their season on Nov. 7 against the Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins on their home courts.

After impressive pre-seasons by both teams, the women’s team lost to the Citadins by a 64-49 score while the men came away with a 69-56 win.

On the women’s side, the game started with a quick 11-3 run by the Citadins.

The Citadins early success in the match was led by guard Quételine Célestin who scored six straight points including a three-pointer. In the last few minutes of the first quarter, the Stingers were able to cut the UQÀM lead to five after rookie point guard Jessika Joly hit a three-pointer. After the first quarter the score was 20-10 for the Citadins.

“We were playing selfish by doing one-on-one,” Stingers forward Richelle Gregoire said. “We are supposed to be playing with five girls on the court.”

In the second quarter, the Stingers were able to cut the Citadins lead to five points after point guard Tamara Pinard-Devos scored a basket. Célestin of the Citadins would then come up big and stop the Stingers momentum with backto-back three pointers. By half-time, the score was 38-23 for the Citadins.

For the first six minutes of the third quarter, the Stingers were struggling with their shooting game and couldn’t get any shots to go in. The Stingers first basket was then scored by shooting guard Aurélie d’Anjou Drouin. The Stingers had a tough quarter and found themselves down by 18 going into the final quarter.

In the final quarter, Joly hit another three-pointer which was able to start a 10-0 run for the Stingers. The run proved to be too little too late though as the Citadins ran away with the 64-49 win.

Citadins centre Jessica Lubin had a double-double in her team’s victory with 10 defensive rebounds and 10 points.

“I was trying to do my best at keeping the players in front of me so that I could work on my feet,” Lubin said. “I did a pretty good job at that.”

On the men’s side, the team fared better in their opening quarter against the Citadins thanks to some accurate shooting and a three-pointer by Stingers guard Jaleel Webb. The Stingers were able to finish up the first quarter with a 20-13 lead.

Midway through the second quarter, the Stingers were up by 12, but with two minutes left in the quarter, the Citadins came storming back and cut the Stingers lead to one at a score of 31-30. The run was started by UQÀM guard Greishe Clerjuste who hit some clutch free throws.

The Stingers then hit a few more baskets to escape with a 37-32 lead at half-time.

“I thought we played pretty well defensively especially in the second half where we held them to only 24 points in the half,” said Stingers coach Rastko Popovic.

In the last two minutes of the third quarter, the Stingers extended their lead to 10 points as point guard Ricardo Monge hit back-to-back free throws. His teammate, forward Michael Fosu, then drained another pair of free throws to give the team a 54-41 lead going into the final quarter.

The Citadins did not give in easily as the team scored six straight points to start the fourth quarter, which cut the Stingers lead to seven points. Stingers guard Ken Beaulieu then sealed the win with a three-pointer.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will be in Quebec City on Nov. 13 to take on the Laval Rouge et Or where the women will get the chance to earn their first win of the season.

Shooting guard Marie-Ève Martin goes one on one against Quételine Célestin. Photos by Marie-Pierre Savard.

Tamara Pinard-Devos looks to make a play in the offensive zone.

Stingers guard Jaleel Webb storms the basket against a UQÀM defender during their win on Nov. 7.

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STINGERS

WEEKEND RESULTS ALEXANDER COLE Sports editor

FOOTBALL MEN’S (LOSS 52-8) The team lost in the RSEQ semi-final to the Laval Rouge et Or by a score of 52-8 in Quebec City on Saturday. Quarterback Trenton Miller went down late in the second quarter and was replaced by Colin Sequeira. The Laval offense had a productive day as they accumulated 310-yards worth of passing offense and an additional 216-yards through their rushing game.

Laval, who was the third-ranked team in the country, went 6-6 in the red zone and did not lose a single turnover. The team ranked atop the RSEQ division with a 7-1 record and will now face the Université de Montréal Carabins in the RSEQ finals. The Stingers season is now over.

RUGBY WOMEN’S (W 34-12; L 27-13; L 65-7) The rugby team participated in the CIS national championships this weekend at Queen’s University where they finished in fourth place after a great season. In the first game on Thursday, the team beat the fourth-ranked University of Victoria by a score of 34-12 which allowed the team to move on to the semi-finals against Queen’s University.

The team lost to the home squad in that game by a score of 27-13. On Sunday, the team played against the University of Ottawa for the bronze medal. The final score was 65-7 in favor of the University of Ottawa. The season is now over for the rugby team.

HOCKEY M E N ’ S ( L 6 - 5 (O T ) ; L 5 - 3 ) The team lost both of their games this weekend which brought their record down to 3-5-2 on the season. On Friday, the team played against Western University where they lost a tight game in overtime by a score of 6-5. Stingers forward Frederic Roy had two goals in the match while Western defenceman Stephen Gaskin marked a hat trick.

In the Stingers second game on Nov. 7, the team lost to the University of Guelph by a score of 5-3. Stingers goaltender Robin Billingham made 35 saves in the loss. Guelph forward Robert Lepine scored two goals while Guelph defenceman Sean Robertson scored two goals as well. The Stingers now sit seventh in the CIS’s East division.

WOMEN’S (LOSS 2-0) The team lost to McGill in an away game on Sunday by a score of 2-0.

The loss is the third in a row for the team which now brings the team’s record to 2-2-1. McGill goalie Kayla Loburg had 22 saves in the shutout which improved her own team’s record to 3-2. The Stingers now sit in fourth place out of five teams in the RSEQ division.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

OPINION

The NFL wants a team in London A look at why the NFL’s obsession with England needs to stop ALEXANDER COLE Sports editor @a_cole39 Starting in 2007, the National Football League decided to start shipping teams over to London, England to play regular season games at Wembley Stadium.

When the league first came up with the concept, there was only one game played in London a year.

In the past two years, the league has upped the ante and has allowed Wembley Stadium to host three regular season games. The games have been a huge success as Wembley Stadium has been packed with 80,000 fans in each game.

Due to the success of these games, the NFL has begun to seriously consider the possibility of having a team in London.

The idea may sound great, but it’s actually a terrible idea that should be put to rest immediately.

The NFL is one of those sports leagues that is constantly making mistakes.

Whether they are fining players for supporting charities, or suspending players for celebrating a touchdown, the NFL really has no shame.

The league has always been about profit, but never about its players. A team in London would be incredible for NFL profits—there is no doubting that. However, when it comes to the safety of the players, a lot could be at stake.

Injuries, especially those to the head, have cursed football players for years.

More and more players are dying from brain trauma as a result of playing football and the hard hits they receive out on the field. At this point you may be wondering how this relates to a team in London. Let me explain.

London is across the Atlantic Ocean which means that travel would be extremely strenuous. A team playing in London would mean that all visiting teams

would have to make the long treck overseas, just for three hours of football. The same would go for the London team that has to travel to North America for just one or two days.

According to painscience.com, a website that gives advice when it comes to injuries, says that when players are not properly rested when injured, they become more prone to aggravating their injuries. NFL players get hit hard and don’t always get the rest needed to heal. This would become much worse if you were playing for or against a team in England. Already, players are fed up with Thursday night games because it doesn’t give them enough time to rest and prepare, especially when they have to travel across the country.

London would be a scheduling nightmare. It would be a nightmare for the players and a headache for a league that has been giving its players headaches for years.

OPINION

Mike Condon’s full week takeover How the Habs back-up became a serviceable NHL goalie SARAH KOSSITS Staff writer It’s hard to believe that just two years ago, nobody wanted goaltender Mike Condon.

At 25 years old, Condon made his NHL debut this year with the Montreal Canadiens after outplaying backup Dustin Tokarski in training camp.

With Carey Price being out for at least a week with a lower body injury, it’s Condon’s time to shine, and he’s not taking it for granted.

In his first seven games with the Habs, Condon is 6-0-1 and has a .940 save percentage. He has a goals-against average of 1.57, which is better than that of any starting goalie in the entire league. Yet two years ago, after being swept out of the first round of the playoffs with the Princeton University Tigers, Condon was working on his thesis on post-Cold War arms transfers. Having never been drafted by an NHL team, Condon was planning for a career with his political science degree rather than planning for a career in hockey.

After leaving Princeton in 2013, Condon decided to give hockey another shot and reached out to the Ontario Reign of the East Coast Hockey League in hopes of obtaining a tryout, which he did. Injuries to other goaltenders on the team allowed him

to get four starts with the Reign, where he put up a 1.48 goals against average.

More injuries to goaltenders allowed him to get called up to the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros, which is where he was first noticed by the Canadiens. In the same year, the Canadiens signed him to a two-year contract.

for the remainder of the playoffs.

The trade of Peter Budaj and the call up of Tokarski to the NHL the next season made room for Condon to have the starting position with the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs for the 2014-2015 season. Impressed with his performance on their farm team, the Canadiens extended his contract until 2017.

After having been eliminated from the 2014 playoffs, Condon received a call from the Canadiens that would change his life. They needed Condon to be their black ace after Price had sustained a season-ending injury in the conference finals against the New York Rangers. He flew to New York and was the third goaltender

His performance in the Canadiens 2015 training camp made general manager Marc Bergevin’s decision quite easy. Simply put, Bergevin believed that Condon “really outplayed” Tokarski, and all of his hard work and persistence finally paid off when Condon was officially given the Habs 2015-2016 back-up position.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

THE CONCORDIAN IS SEEKING SPORTS WRITERS Do you love sports and journalism? Do you want to cover Stingers sports? Send an email with your name to sports@theconcordian.com to be added to our mailing list or come to our weekly story meetings held every Friday at 2 p.m. in our office (CC building, room 431) at Loyola.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

OPINIONS

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OPINIONS EDITOR MATTHEW CIVICO opinions@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

EDITORIAL

T

he First and Second World Wars consumed the entire planet. While not every country sent soldiers into conflict or had blood from battlefields spilt on their soil, the political world of alliances and the tectonic loss of life was felt around the world.

The League of Nations, and then the United Nations attempted to create a platform for countries to communicate and to be diplomatic before declaring war to solve their grievances. It has been 70 years since the last world war but it becomes increasingly important that we, as a planet, continue to learn from the atrocities of the past as the number of living WWII veterans falls.

Global warming, water scarcity and the greatest number of refugees, displaced people and immigrants ever recorded fleeing from their homes could lead to conflict in the future.

Remembrance Day presents us with a day to reflect on the mistakes of the past, but also to take a moment to think about the future.

But talking about our Remembrance Day experiences in the office revealed that it’s a very different day depending on what city or country you are in. Regardless of what the day means to you or whether you support wearing a red or white poppy, or a bleut de France, the most important thing here is that we talk about war and conflict, and remember, reflect, and learn from the past.

Montreal Throughout elementary school and high school, Remembrance day was a noticeably different day. Emblazoned with red poppies, many of our teachers

REMEMBRANCE DAY would take a portion of their allotted class time to describe the atrocities of war and the bravery required of the soldiers. The floor would briefly be opened for students to share their personal stories of an ancestor’s selfless sacrifice for the country’s future. Few would have accounts, but those who did had stories rife with detail and a personal stake.

A few short moments before 11 a.m., a voice would project from the classroom intercom, instructing us all to take a moment of silence in honor of the soldiers who gave their lives in the name of peace. On rare occasions, a song consisting of a solitary horn would accompany our pensive silence.

Though this only lasted a minute and class would resume as normal for the remainder of the day, the message was clear and the thought of war’s many unfortunate effects remained, at least for a day.

— SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER Music editor Vancouver Remembrance Day is dramatically different in British Columbia. The weeks leading up to the day are spent organizing ceremonies and researching our friends’ and family’s history— whether it was our grandparent’s participation in WWI or WWII or a friend whose parent is a veteran or part of the Armed Forces, it didn’t matter. We would cut out construction paper poppies and study the words to “In Flanders Fields,” and in the older grades emphasis is put on

studying the Holocaust and learning about the death tolls of war.

Nov. 11 itself is a provincial holiday where schools and shops are closed.

People attend somber ceremonies at their local cenotaphs, where politicians and local business owners place wreaths. No one laughs, no one claps, and even as a small child I remember feeling the weight of importance when the clocks struck 11 a.m. and the entire crowd stands in somber silence for two minutes. A trumpeter breaks the silence with the “Last Post” song, the Air Force flies planes over the city and at different ceremonies ceremonial guns are fired or choirs sing “In Flanders Fields.”

It’s a somber day of reflection which always forced stories of war into my otherwise peaceful Canadian upbringing.

We were taught to remember the horrors of the past, to remember that violence can be forced upon us and to remember that people fought and died for the country we have today.

— MICHELLE GAMAGE Editor-in-chief France Remembrance Day in France is called Armistice Day and is a very different affair.

Nov. 11 is just about the First World War

because it commemorates the day the war ended. It isn’t a huge deal although classes are cancelled for the day and there are ceremonies broadcast on the television. Younger generations are not really emotional about the day because there aren’t any living grandparents who fought in the war. Compared to London, England, where there is a lot of patriotism and the poppy is plastered all over buses and the metro, Armistice Day in France is a much smaller and more somber day.

In Canada the day feels a lot more like a propaganda plug, with videos talking about how great the Armed Forces are all over YouTube, Facebook, and the T.V. There are public announcements on Twitter and your Facebook feed is crammed with notifications by the Canadian government, which I don’t follow and am not “friends” with. The day seems to be less about remembering and more about encouraging Canadian foreign intervention policies and encouraging Canadian soldiers to head into conflict zones. Why are my taxes going towards these Call of Duty videos? Ridiculous.

— PIERRE A. LEPETIT Production manager

REMEMBRANCE

What we remember Some want the white ‘peace’ poppy to supplant the classic red symbol BRIANNA BALLARD Contributor Every November, my grandmother wears a red poppy. It’s a nice one, with a small Canadian flag in the center. I remember her giving me one when I was younger, and teaching me to pin it on the left side of my jacket, over my heart. She wears it not only to show respect for veterans, but to remember my grandfather, who was a veteran himself.

Pretty much every Canadian knows what the red poppy stands for, and we’ve all seen volunteers from the Canadian Legion in grocery stores and shopping malls with a donation tin and a box of pins. But not everyone has heard about the white poppies that are trying to take

over Remembrance Day. The white poppy campaign is a practically non-existent movement that believes that red poppies glorify war. The supporters are trying to get people to wear white poppies instead of red ones, in the name of promoting peace. What these wannabe-peace-activists don’t seem to understand is that remembering the past is not the same as being an active supporter of certain political views.

I am far from being pro-war, yet I still wear a poppy because I can recognize the significant contribution that veterans have made to Canada’s history. I can also understand that wearing a red poppy doesn’t indicate my policy on current military situations.

The white poppy campaign seems to think its cause is noble, but in truth, there isn’t one solid reason to attack the red poppy. In fact, white poppies could be doing more harm than good.

The little donation you make to wear a red poppy doesn’t just vanish into thin air—and it certainly doesn’t go to funding wars overseas. According to the Canadian Legion, the money doesn’t even go straight into veterans’ pockets, either.

In Montreal, the money from the red poppies mainly goes to charities. It goes to the Ste. Anne’s Veterans hospital, school boards, food banks and scholarships for students who have veterans in their family, among other things.

What is the white poppy movement doing for anybody?

Luckily, although the movement is quite prominent in the U.K., Canadians don’t seem to be catching onto the idea of white poppies. It was started in Ottawa by the Canadian Peace Alliance, and made headlines across the country. But in truth, the distribution of white poppies can’t even compare with red poppies.

Over 18 million Canadians showed their support for the Canadian Legion by wearing a red poppy last year.

Basically, there is nothing wrong with red poppies. They bring the country together in remembrance.

We all grew up with them; we attended assemblies where bagpipes were played and the poem “In Flanders Fields” was read to us. Wanting peace isn’t a bad thing, but pulling out the white poppy argument at a time when we are trying to show respect for the people who served our country is extremely inconsiderate. Promote peace somewhere else, at an appropriate time.

Let the country remember its history.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

HEALTH

A med student’s stance against euthanasia Lawmakers have until February to decide if and how to regulate the practice LESTER LIAO Contributor

T

he discussion about physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, or PAS/E, has not been very clear. The situation is often portrayed as mercifully ending suffering versus cruelly allow-

ing people to suffer. The problem with this is twofold. It falsely portrays the motives of people who disagree with PAS/E and it takes advantage of ambiguity cloaked in language like ‘suffering.’ Let’s tackle both options here.

Firstly, people who are opposed to euthanasia are not cruel. They are compassionate, which at its root means with and suffering. They want to be with people who are suffering and give them support. Their motive is to care. It is harder to walk with those who are suffering and enter into their experience than it is to end their lives.

Second, it is unclear to many what suffering entails. Suffering is a word that evokes a strong response in us. We don’t like suffering and we want to do away with it. Call something suffering and people will believe it is evil and should be eliminated. But what suffering are we talking about? Terrible pain? This is often suggested but is simply not the case. I’m a McGill grad, physician in training at Western University and currently on my palliative care elective. Physicians are typically able to make patients comfortable.

Studies have shown that people who desire to die can change their minds once effective care manages to relieve their pain. Compassion, and

knowing that alleviating pain often gives people comfort in their final days, surely plays a role in why the vast majority of palliative physicians are against euthanasia, according to an internal survey by Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians.

I believe the issue at hand is more related to the god our society loves to worship: autonomy. We want to get

what we want when we want it.

Can’t we see the bait and switch?

The whole issue is framed as suffering and thrives off the notion of terrible pain.

But this is not the case.

The pain can be dealt with.

The issue is not getting what we want. We don’t typically call not getting what we want ‘suffering.’

But continue to call it ‘suffering’ and you have produced sympathy in your listeners based on a false reality convenient for the cause. This is not surprising. I agree with the journalist G. K. Chesterton in his book Eugenics and Other Evils when he said, “evil always takes advantage of ambiguity.”

We must clarify the issue. This does

We are rejecting the cultivated ethic of caring for the weakest in our society.

not suggest that people who personally desire euthanasia don’t experience any form of difficulty or are somehow being deceptive. However, I’d suggest that those who support euthanasia use ambiguity to their benefit.

So what then of autonomy? Would my desire for someone to end my life warrant a law that mandates it be done? In our heart of hearts, I believe everyone knows our individual independence cannot be our ultimate arbiter. In practical life we restrict autonomy based on the principle to do no harm. If a random stranger asked you to kill him, would you do it? No; you would refuse on the basis that it is wrong to kill.

Do you make qualifications?

Do you say, “I will not kill you because you’re healthy” or, “your life is enjoyable?”

No. Your instinct tells you that this simply must not be done.

know autonomy cannot be our ultimate arbiter. Having to make any justification at all suggests we are operating with another arbiter in mind whether or not we like to believe so.

And what is that? To do no harm.

There is confusion between the differences of active and passive responses to people suffering. I believe PAS/E advocates also take advantage of this. They suggest there is no difference between passive and active ending of life. Yet there is a world of difference between letting a disease take its course and knowingly infecting someone with a disease that kills them.

They are two different causes of death.

Some still object and say that if a man is choking and you do nothing then you are letting him die, but that is not acceptable. Of course, this is true if you have no sense of intention and only know how to focus on outcomes. But consider how intent is everywhere in human interactions.

Deliberately shooting a man and gleefully doing nothing as he chokes

Now the example I have given may seem bizarre, but it is at the root the very same as

both fall under the umbrella of intent to end life. But aiming to kill versus accidentally pulling a trigger? We have different names for those people.

Medicine is built on helping people, on those who are strong and able taking care of those who are sick and weak and in need of others. It is altruism. But we are seeking to forsake this in our new outlook. We are rejecting the cultivated ethic of caring for the weakest in our society. Instead we are nurturing a new idea that people suffering have unworthy lives so we should actively take measures to remove them. Or let’s get back to the language game.

We help them die. Or better yet, we mercifully bestow them an elixir that eliminates all suffering... by making them dead.

The reality of this world is that we do not always get what we want. Our bodies don’t always work the way we want. But we cannot end our lives whenever things do not turn out the way we hope. For the very autonomy we wish to have is built on natural life, and neglecting the Hippocratic principle to do no harm destroys the very life that makes autonomy possible. I propose a move towards solidarity, a time of coming alongside those who are at the end of their life, to show them that their lives are valuable and that we care.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

our reasoning for PAS/E today. People are suffering and they want us to give up our own right to self-determination in order to honour what they see as their right to end their life. Suffering is a subjective criterion. How can I tell you that your suffering is not great?

If we accept suffering as a criterion for PAS/E, who can we turn away?

And yet every day we strive to change this subjective perception through encouraging friends, appreciating what we have, and seeing psychiatrists.

Why do we do that? Inherently we

DO YOU AGREE? If not, email opinions@theconcordian.com and pitch us your rebuttal.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

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ETC Tweets of the week #FlushGate The shit’s still not in the river yet but a new hashtag is making its way downstream: #FlushGate. It brings the issue of 8 billion litres of sewage close enough to home to smell it. You know what you’re flushing, don’t lie, you know! Now that we’re all thoroughly potty-shamed, here’s the best of #FlushGate on Twitter this week.

(Try not to think about the insane of amount of water we waste with our waste)

@BenjaminlGrant #flushgate has the potential to reach the pinnacle of Canadian significance: American satirical news shows.

UNSOLICITED ADVICE HOW TO SURVIVE THE END-OF-SEMESTER CRUNCH: 1. Don’t work harder, procrastinate smarter! a. Avoid responsibility and get thanked for it by doing the dishes!

2. Make time to recharge your batteries. a. Plug in your phone and forget about it until after an episode of Gilmore Girls.

3. Put your education to use and get philosophical. a. “If life has no meaning but what we make of it, why aren’t I spending someone else’s money on parmesan cheese and eating it by the handful?”

4. Remember what’s most important. a. C’s get degrees!

@DomenicFazioli “Ok, ok. We’ll make the modifications, you long-eared varmint!” #flushgate @aladdintweets “Humanity’s fate is being negotiated in #Paris, but look here, Montreal’s pooping in the river!” - my #cdnpoli feed in 3..2..1... #flushgate @awudrick People, we can’t just go dumping poop into rivers willy-nilly. The poop must be properly inspected and cleaned first #flushgate #cdnpoli @frogsarelovely Dumping will happen says #MerdeCoderre #StopTheShit #flushgate

the

c

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