September 17, 2018 by The Varsity

THE VARSITY September 17, 2018

University of Toronto's Student Newspaper since 1880

Vol. CXXXIX, No. 3

The Predator Wildlife Vox Lux Green Book Manto

Stars! They’re just like us! Giant Little Ones actress and U of T student Niamh Wilson takes on TIFF Arts & Culture — Page 14

Quincy Asako I & II The Great Darkened Days

Comment Two writers on Steve Bannon’s upcoming Munk Debate

Feature Love, betrayal, murder: the death of Allan Lanteigne

Science Literacy Week returns for a fifth year

Sports Blues’ striker Erin Kelly has a goal in mind

Editorial

ANN MARIE ELPA/THE VARSITY

Premier Ford should remember that he serves all Ontarians — and stay out of city politics

Chaos erupts at legislature amid protests against Ford government decision to cut size of city council Protesters arrested, MPPs walk out from heated debate

BRUCE REEVE / CC FLIKR

Ann Marie Elpa and Silas Le Blanc Associate News Editors

The Ontario legislature descended into chaos on September 12 after members of the opposition and the public spoke out against Premier Doug Ford’s decision to invoke Section 33 of the Canadian Charter, also known as the notwithstanding clause. This landmark decision comes after a Superior Court ruling struck down Bill 5 on September Protest, page 3

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Weekly Tweets

@aatika_m96 | Aatika Moollabhai September 14, 2018 Sitting at a Munk talk at UofT... I've never seen so much privilege in one room before... @ultminkwan | emily September 15, 2018 we faced uoft at homecoming today i think thats why everyone was wearing mac tshirts and screaming @anomalisas | winnie September 15, 2018 everyone I've met who goes to an ivy league college: I go to a school in [state]. everyone who goes to u of t: I attend the university of toronto, st. george. my program of study is rotman/ engineering/computer science, where the entrance average was...

UTSG Crime Reportings August

Thefts

Arson

Mischief

Breach of Probation

Mischief /Thefts

Break and Enter

Break and Enter/Theft

Suspicious Persons

Fraud

Motor Vehicle CollisionProperty Damage

Robbery

Assault

@ItsAamenah | Aamenah September 16, 2018 Started Atypical yesterday, the first university scene is filmed at UofT. Watched A Simple Favor today, all the university scenes are filmed at UofT. STOP

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53. Bridges of film 54. Tiny particle 55. Ducks 56. Caveat to a buyer 57. Lacking liquid 58. Colt's sound 59. Bank adjuncts

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DOWN

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The Varsity is the University of Toronto’s largest student newspaper, publishing since 1880. It is printed by Master Web Inc. on recycled newsprint stock. Content © 2018 by The Varsity. All rights reserved. Any editorial inquiries and/or letters should be directed to the sections associated with them; emails listed above. The Varsity reserves the right to edit all submissions. Inquiries regarding ad sales can be made to ads@thevarsity.ca. ISSN: 0042-2789

ACROSS 1. Research rooms 5. North African expanse 11. Similar type 14. Nitrogenous waste 15. Readied 16. Date or age beginning 17. Driver's ___ 18. Blow to pieces 20. Bowler, but not golfer 21. Fox chaser? 22. Orbital extreme 23. Not so cordial 25. Tot tenders 26. They're twirled in parades 28. Rome septet

29. Take effect, in legalspeak 30. Island of entertainment 31. So ___ 34. Emulated Lady Godiva 35. Less firm, maybe 36. Add a kick to 37. Common tip jar bill 38. Moisten, poetically 39. Pulverize 40. Repaired a shoe 41. Moves unobtrusively 42. Worldly, not spiritual 45. "Haystacks" artist 46. Collar, for cops 47. Whim 48. Small handful 51. Call girl

1. Opulent 2. Grounds 3. Exalted happiness 4. Created a lap 5. Future ferns 6. Pergola 7. Saber handle 8. Bud in Burgundy 9. Shopkeeper 10. With skill 11. Celebrity's concern 12. Not as timely 13. A couple of big joints 19. Languishes 21. One of a trident trio 24. Compost heap discard 25. Connective tissue 26. Ball point pen inventor 27. In a moment 28. Was optimistic 30. Sweet or hard beverage 31. Most flawed 32. Cause of some scars 33. Lipstick hues 35. Family tree entry 36. Metal deposit 38. Prop up 39. Color for the tickled 40. Files litigation 41. Hurting the most 42. Flavorsome 43. Trial associate? 44. Close pal 45. Agrippina, to Nero 47. Form of pachisi 49. Injure badly 50. Cat in boots 52. Astaire specialty 53. Bucolic cry

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 | 3

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Anand Baiju remembered for incredible selflessness, work ethic

Civil engineering student worked two part-time jobs, always made time for family and friends Adam A. Lam Varsity Contributor

Anand Baiju, a second-year Civil Engineering student at the University of Toronto, drowned at U of T’s land surveying camp in Minden, Ontario on September 4. He was 18 years old. Baiju is remembered by those who knew him for his unwavering dedication to his family. In the first year of his studies, Baiju balanced a full-time course load with part-time jobs as a security guard and a fast-food worker. He worked these jobs to fund his education, since his family was “not that financially sound to support his institution,” said Manoj Gopinath, Baiju’s uncle. Baiju also sent money back to his parents. Kaifkhan Kalyani, a close friend of Baiju since fifth grade, said that Baiju “had the whole family on his shoulders.” Baiju often said to his parents, “‘Don’t worry, I will take care of the family once I graduate from Engineering,’” recalled Gopinath. “He always told his dad, ‘You won’t have to go to work. I will take care of the family.’ He was a very responsible kid… He had a great love for his family.” Baiju also cared greatly for his little sister, who recently turned 12 years old. Gopinath recalled how Baiju would regularly buy gifts for her with his earnings. “The last one I remember was that he bought a doll for her… he thinks of her; he buys something in a very loving and caring [way],” said Gopinath. To plan out his time between studying, working, and spending time with his family, Baiju met several times with Jennifer Fabro, the First-year Advisor for Civil Engineering. “We talked a lot about balance,” said Fabro, “and we chatted about motivation — I know that family was really important to him, and he was really keen to be the first engineer in his family. That was really important to him.” Despite his busy schedule, Fabro recalled that Baiju had “a positive attitude” and that “his smile could light up a room.” “He was just a really lovely person,” said Fabro. “I know a lot of people were touched by him, so it’s a really sad situation.” But “there was so much more to him than just the academic side,” said Kalyani. “He’d just help everybody… He was really a cool guy. He was very down-to-earth, you could really talk to him

U of T to open research centre in India as part of School of Cities Alliance

Centre seeks to provide research opportunities, reallife urban solutions in India Kaitlyn Simpson Managing Online Editor

The University of Toronto will be establishing a research centre in India to study cities as part of an international partnership with Indian philanthropic organization Tata Trusts. The research centre is part of a School of Cities Alliance in India, which seeks to solve urban issues by bringing together scholars and experts from both countries. An entrepreneurship centre will also be

Friend says that he wanted his own construction company. Courtesy of ANUROOP NAIR

about anything.” “You know how some people just try to be alone and get their marks, and not try to help other people?” continued Kalyani. “He wasn’t like that. He made sure everybody tried to get their stuff done.” “He influenced me to work harder and get into the top universities. And he did that stuff for everyone… ask anybody in our school. He would always be willing to lend a hand and share what he knows in terms of chemistry, physics, calculus, or math. He did that for everybody, not even just me — he was helping people he didn’t even know.” Kalyani said that Baiju influenced a lot of people at their high school to take academics seriously and work on their grades. Just two days prior to his passing, Baiju shared his plans for his future with his friend. “He wanted to get a civil engineering degree, and then he wanted to get his MBA from Rotman,” explained Kalyani. “He wanted to build up a construction company.” “He was very passionate about his future, he had very hard career goals set in place. He knew exactly what he wanted to do,” continued Kalyani. “Unfortunately, he didn’t get to pursue his dreams.”

created in India as part of the alliance. The partnership was announced on September 4 at an Invest India conference in Toronto by U of T President Meric Gertler and Manoj Kumar, Tata Trusts’ Head of Institutions, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. During the announcement, Gertler said that the partnership “will bring together leading experts from both countries to address some of India’s most pressing economic and social development challenges.” The School of Cities was launched on July 1 with the purpose of tackling urban issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. In an interview with The Varsity, Ted Sargent, U of T Vice-President International, said that the partnership was a “perfect alignment” between India’s smart city priorities and U of T’s “thought-leadership” at the School of Cities. Sargent hopes that by reaching out strategically to global partners, students, researchers, and staff can have more impact in the work they do. “U of T decided to partner with Tata Trusts because U of T has a real priority to increase its global partnerships,” said Sargent. “Tata Trusts had the same view, and so they were a great partner to join forces with.” Sargent explained that the long-term goal for the partnership is for research to effectively translate

Protest, from cover 10, which would have downsized Toronto City Council from 47 to 25 seats. The invocation of the notwithstanding clause by the government overrules the court decision, and allows Ford to continue with his plan to cut down city council. The provincial government is also appealing the Superior Court ruling. Ford will be the first Ontario Premier to invoke Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the province’s legislative history. This section of the Charter allows the federal or provincial government to override certain sections of the Charter; in this case, Ford is using it to bypass the court ruling. Most instances of its enactment were in Québec as a form of protest. Ford made the sudden announcement to use the notwithstanding clause hours after Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba ruled against Bill 5. After he invoked the clause, Ford boasted of “not being shy” to pull such a move. As a result of this bill, a single city councillor would be representing 120,000 residents in a riding — up from around 70,000–95,000 residents currently. Ford said that by doing this, he will be “saving taxpayer dollars.” “By invoking the notwithstanding clause, he should expect the people to respond and that the people of Toronto are not going to take their rights being ignored very simply,” said Kate Schneider, a second-year Political Science student who showed up to protest the bill. “They’re not going to just let him override their rights.” Most protesters were escorted out of the public gallery, and none remained after the first reading. Two protesters were arrested by security, one announcing that she was a “77-and-a-half-year-old woman.” Members of the opposition criticized the arrest, calling it an attack against democracy. Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), was especially critical of the premier’s motives, calling his move a vendetta against Toronto City Council and the people of Toronto. “All this time to get back at, to get revenge on NDP city councillors that he didn’t like — that’s not what a Premier is supposed to do. And then to use this heavy hand, to use the notwithstanding clause to attack people’s charter-protected rights?” said Horwath later in a media scrum. “It’s a black eye on our province. It’s a shame that our premier is such a petty, vindictive human being, whose focus is on himself

into real-life applications, and the centre hopes to engage and collaborate with policymakers, leaders in India’s business community, and the public to apply research solutions. According to Sargent, the decision to partner with Tata Trusts came from a variety of different university stakeholders. Sargent’s office of VP International played a role, alongside “other people involved from the central leadership of the university” and various faculties involved with the School of Cities. U of T has a history of working with Tata Trusts. The organization funded an initiative from U of T engineering Professor Emeritus Levente Diosady, which helped assist people with anemia by creating an iron- and iodine-enriched salt. Additionally, in 2017, Tata Trusts co-hosted a Smart Cities Workshop with the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, led by U of T urban systems engineering professor Mark Fox. The research centre will be located in either

and his own quest to ‘show those folks in Toronto that he’s the boss of them.’” Horwath also questioned Ford on why there was no mention of such an initiative in his 2018 provincial election campaign, claiming that he is “tramping over people’s right to override the initiative that he did not have the guts to run on.” She, like many other members of the opposition, were ejected from the chamber for disrupting the reading of the bill by banging on desks, coughing, and yelling words such as “democracy.” Speaker of the House, Progressive Conservative (PC) MPP, Ted Arnott, Ford, and members of Ford’s cabinet left the chamber abruptly at around 10:50 am, reconvening roughly 20 minutes later. When asked about the events that took place in the galleries, Ontario Attorney General Caroline Mulroney said, “I am fully supportive of our government’s decision to appeal the decision of the Superior Court, which we believe was wrongly decided, and so, we’re appealing that case. And because time is of the essence — there’s an election in the City of Toronto in a few short weeks — we have decided to use a tool that is a available, a legal tool that is available to the legislature.” “We are using that tool to ensure that… the people of Toronto have rules they need and the clarity that they need for this election.” Her father, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, was a staunch advocate against the notwithstanding clause. When asked what she would say to her father, she replied, “With respect to my father, his views on the notwithstanding clause have been well documented. He is open to the opportunity to speak to those, and he was opposed to the notwithstanding clause when it was introduced — but he recognizes and said yesterday that it is a legal tool available for democratically-elected legislatures to use.” Steve Clark, PC MPP for Leeds— Grenville, commented on the decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause, saying that “we came here with the mandate to reduce the cost and size of the government.” Clark said that constitutional experts have indicated that the government is “well within” its rights to invoke the clause. When asked if six hours was enough time for a thoughtful, measured response to the judge’s decision, Clark responded, “Time is of the essence. We’ve got, on October 22, a municipal election. We need to be able to have some certainty around those 25 ridings and that’s why we’re reintroducing the bill.”

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

Mumbai or Bengaluru and is scheduled to open in 2019. U of T undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty members will have the opportunity to spend time at the centre to experience “real local engagement and activity.”

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The Breakdown: Incidental fees for full-time undergraduate Arts & Science students Looking into what your money goes to, where you can opt out

Josie Kao News Editor

Among the issues that university students both love and hate to discuss, tuition often tops the list. But in paying for university, students are not just paying for the ability to go to class and receive a degree. Bundled up within the tuition fees are hundreds of dollars of non-academic incidental fees that all students pay, which give access to various services on campus, including health care, athletic facilities, and campus publications. Some of these incidental fees are mandatory, but others include an opt-out option. The Varsity has put together a roundup of all the incidental fees that undergraduate Arts & Science students have to pay, including the ones that aren’t compulsory. This article is based on numbers from the 2017–2018 school year, and it only refers to fees paid for the fall and winter sessions by full-time students. Some fees, including The Varsity’s, may have changed for the 2018–2019 school year. Visit thevarsity.ca for a more in-depth look. Universal fees Almost all students at U of T have four fees in common, though they may have varying amounts. These fees go toward U of T Community Radio, The Varsity, Hart House, and Kinesiology & Physical

Education (KPE) Co-Curricular Programs, Services, and Facilities. None of these fees have an opt-out option. UTM Arts & Science All undergraduate UTM students in the arts and science divisions pay 14 incidental fees, totalling $772.46 in the fall and winter sessions each. UTM students pay six fees to access universityoperated services. These include KPE Co-Curricular Programs, Services, and Facilities, as well as Physical Education & Athletics, Hart House, Health Service, Student Services, and Summer Shuttle Services. Besides these universal fees, there are six fees for student societies: the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU), The Medium, the U of T at Mississauga Athletics Council, Vibe Radio, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), and the Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students (APUS). UTM students belong to both the UTSU and the UTMSU — though the agreement is currently under negotiation — and thus have to pay fees to both. The largest of these fees goes toward the UTSU, at $196.32 in the fall and winter sessions each. The largest portion of the UTSU fee — $162.28 — pays for a health and dental plan, which students can opt out of.

Get Your TTC Post-Secondary Photo ID Carry your TTC pus My Cam Post-Secondary Student ent Photo ID when using your A. Stud Post-Secondary Student monthly Metropass and present it to TTC staff upon request. Post-Secondary Student ID photos will be taken on: St. George Campus, Hart House Reading Room Tuesday, September 25 and Tuesday, October 23, 2018 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Scarborough Campus (room TBA) Thursday October 18, 2018 - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Important: Metropasses are being discontinued on December 31, 2018. Starting in November, 2018, you can purchase the Post-Secondary Monthly Pass on PRESTO and will need the TTC Post-Secondary Photo ID to get the discount rate.

Visit ttc.ca for more information.

Of the remaining amount, $5.57 is refundable. The second highest student society fee is for the UTMSU, at $143.26 in the fall and winter sessions each. Of that amount, $108.28 pays for the U-Pass, and the rest of it goes toward various smaller groups, such as a food bank and the student refugee program. The only refundable UTMSU fee is its $3.25 per session Blind Duck Pub fee. UTSC Arts & Science All undergraduate UTSC students in the arts and science divisions pay 12 incidental fees, totalling $839.22 in the fall and winter sessions each. UTSC students pay five fees to access university-operated services. These include Hart House, Health Service, Student Services, the Scarborough College Athletic Fee, and KPE Co-Curricular Programs, Services, and Facilities. Besides these universal fees, there are five fees for student societies: Scarborough Campus Students’ Council (SCSU), Scarborough College Athletic Association, Scarborough Campus Community Radio, and APUS, as well as Scarborough Campus Students’ Press, which publishes The Underground. The largest of these fees goes toward the SCSU, at $410.24 in the fall and winter sessions each. Of that amount, $172.97 pays for a health and dental plan, which students can opt out of. The second-highest amount pays for the UTSC Sports & Recreation Complex Levy, at $157.48 in the fall and winter sessions each. Of the remaining amount, $4.13 is refundable. Parts of the SCSU fee goes toward various smaller groups and initiatives, such as a Wheelchair Accessibility Projects fund and a Foster Children Program fund. UTSG Arts & Science by college Undergraduate students in arts and science programs at UTSG pay eight identical fees, plus one

college specific fee. The eight fees are for the UTSU, APUS, Arts & Science Students’ Union, U of T Community Radio, The Varsity, Hart House, Student Life Programs & Services, and KPE Co-Curricular Programs, Services, and Facilities. These fees total $652.18. The largest of these fees goes toward the UTSU, at $213.71 in the fall and winter sessions each. The largest portion of the UTSU fee — $162.28 — pays for a health and dental plan, which students can opt out of. Of the remaining amount, $12.24 is refundable. The UTSU fee pays for organizations and initiatives such as the Ontario Public Interest Research Group, the Sexual Education & Peer Counselling Centre, and the University of Toronto Aerospace Team. Innis students pay $41.53 for the Innis College Student Society and the Innis College Student Services Fee. New College students pay $30.00 for the New College Student Council. University College students pay $30.03 for the University College Literary & Athletic Society. Woodsworth students pay $7.50 for the Woodsworth College Students’ Association. St. Michael’s College students pay $132.02 for the St. Michael's College Student Union, The Mike, a College Fee, and a Campaign Fee. Trinity students pay $216.13 for the Trinity College Meeting and a College Fee. Victoria students pay $243.76 for the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council, the Victoria University Student Services Fee, Goldring Student Centre, and the Victoria Commuter Package. Stay tuned for more breakdowns of graduate student and professional faculty student fees.

Chatime coming soon to UTSC

The bubble tea chain is hiring, expected to open by early October

Jayra Almanzor UTSC Bureau Chief

After years of student requests, the bubble tea giant Chatime will finally open a franchise at UTSC. Job postings for Chatime UTSC have been found on various employment websites such as Indeed and Catch a Job. The postings say that Chatime is looking for workers to prepare the teas and operate the cash register. In a phone interview with The Varsity, Desmond Chan, Vice-President Operations of the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU), said that Chatime is scheduled to open by early October. The store will be located in the basement of UTSC’s Student Centre, which currently is only occupied by the student-run pub, Rex’s Den. According to Chan, Rex’s Den will shift from a full-service model to a half-service model. “Chatime will take up half of the space,” said Chan. “They’ll be sharing the same area, but we’ll have signage that clearly outlines which part is Chatime’s and which part is Rex’s.” At the moment, the Student Centre basement is under renovation in preparation for this change. “I’m so excited, I’m going to go there every other day till I get sick of it,” Mohit Singh, a fourth-year Statistics student, told The Varsity. “It’s about time UTSC got a proper bubble tea place.”

The nearest bubble tea option is 25 minutes away by bus. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

At the moment, UTSC is the only U of T campus without a bubble tea store nearby. The nearest Chatime was a 40 to 50-minute bus ride from UTSC, while the closest bubble tea option, Gong Cha, is 25 minutes away by bus or at least an hour away by foot. In November 2016, Twitter user @87virtuemoir tweeted to Chatime Canada that it “should really open a Chatime at UTSC,” to which Chatime Canada replied that it “[hopes] this day can come soon.” Almost two years later, this tweet is about to become a reality.

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SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 | 5

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A students’ guide to the municipal elections

Confusion remains over Premier Doug Ford’s decision to cut size of Toronto City Council, notwithstanding clause PEARL CAO AND GHEYANA PURBODININGRAT/THE VARSITY

Ilya Bañares and Sabrina Daniele Varsity Staff

Municipalities across Ontario will be holding elections for mayors, local councillors, and school board trustees on October 22. However, the elections have been muddled in the wake of Premier Doug Ford’s plan to cut down the size of Toronto City Council, as well as his decision to cancel various other elections. To help you sort through the news, The Varsity has created a guide to help students vote. UTSG Students in Toronto will have 35 choices for mayor, including incumbent John Tory. Other notable candidates include former chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat, safe streets advocate Sarah Climenhaga, “people’s” lawyer Saron Gebresellassi, and far-right commentator Faith Goldy. The elections for city councillors are less straightforward. In November 2016, City Council approved a recommendation to increase the number of Toronto wards from 44 to 47 for the 2018 municipal elections. This recommendation was part of a three-year review, which concluded that Toronto needed to increase representation to keep up with its growing population. In July 2018, Ford introduced unprecedented legislation to cut the size of the city council from 47 wards down to 25 in order to match federal and provincial ridings. Speaking to reporters after the story broke, Ford said, “People tell me that we have too many politicians making it harder to get things done, making it harder to get things built, making it harder to deal with the real problems we face.” “It’s clear that the size of government is just too large.” In the aftermath of Ford’s announcement, critics immediately voiced their opposition to the plan, in particular denouncing the lack of consultation. Ford’s plan was brought to court, where,

on September 10, a Superior Court justice struck down the bill as unconstitutional. However, hours later, Ford made another surprise announcement, saying that he plans to use the notwithstanding clause from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is a part of the Constitution. The clause allows the legislature to override parts of the Charter in cases where the courts might be interfering with the elected government’s decisions. In order for this to work, Ford has come up with an entirely new bill, since the clause cannot be applied retroactively. Although the Tories attempted to push revised Bill 31 through on Saturday, resistance to discussion meant that talks will resume at 12:01 am on Monday. As this is an ongoing development, it remains unclear whether the municipal elections will go forward with 47 or 25 wards. Under the 44-ward system, the St. George campus is currently represented by Joe Cressy of Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina on the west side and Kristyn Wong-Tam of Ward 27 Toronto Centre—Rosedale on the east side. If elections proceed with 47 wards, UTSG will continue to be split in two: the east side as a part of Ward 24 and the west side as a part of Ward 25. Running in Ward 24 would be Cressy, alongside Michael Barcelos, Michael Borrelli, Marc Cormier, Pedro Marques, and Andrew Massey. The listed candidates for the new Ward 25 under the 47-ward system are Chris Moise, who joined the court battle against Ford’s council-cutting legislation, as well as John Jeffery, Dan King, Ryan Lester, Kyle McNally, Jules Monteyne, Nicki Ward, Kevin Wiener, and Rob Wolvin. However, if elections proceed under the 25ward model, UTSG would be brought together under one ward, University—Rosedale. At this stage, City Clerk Ulli Watkiss is still operating under the 47-ward model until Ford finalizes his use of the notwithstanding clause, although Wat-

kiss has warned that reorganizing a fair election is close to becoming a logistical impossibility. There is no official list of candidates yet, however, a number of people have already announced their intentions to run. Incumbent Ward 19 Trinity—Spadina councillor Mike Layton has announced that he would run in University—Rosedale. Cressy has said that he would compete in the neighbouring ward of Spadina—Fort York. Wong-Tam would compete in Toronto Centre. “After discussions with members of the community and much personal reflection, I have decided that IF Ford is successful, and we are forced to run in a 25 seat race, I will be running to represent the ward of University-Rosedale,” Layton wrote in a statement on September 14. “I grew up in the Annex and have lived in the Little Italy, Chinatown, and Christie Pitts neighbourhoods my entire adult life. The issues facing this community hit close to home, and are issues I have worked closely on for many years.” No specific voting places have been released as of September 16. According to the City of Toronto website, “Currently the 2018 Voting places are under review.” UTSC Scarborough campus will continue to be contained in one ward in both models. It’s currently represented by Jim Hart of Ward 44 Scarborough East, a former city staffer who was appointed in 2017 following the death of Ron Moeser. Hart is not running in the October 22 election. Candidates registered under the 47-ward model are Corneliu Chisu, the former MP for Pickering—Scarborough East, who was defeated for re-election; Jennifer McKelvie, a failed candidate in the 2014 election and a former member of the UTSC Campus Council; Paul Cookson; Daniel Cubellis; Reza Khoshdel; Dave Madder; Christopher Riley; Joseph Thomas; and Emery Warner. If Ford is successful with the notwithstanding

clause, the ward will be simply named Ward 47. Under the 25-ward system, it will align with the boundaries of Scarborough—Rouge Park. As with the downtown wards, the locations of the polls haven’t been specified yet. UTM Mississauga will not be affected by the Ford government’s plans, as it is a separate municipality. Elections for mayor, councillors, and school board trustees will be held on October 22, in line with the Toronto municipal elections. UTM, like UTSC, is contained in a single ward, Ward 8. Incumbent Bonnie Crombie, who took over the chief executive position from longtime Mayor Hazel McCallion, is running for re-election against Kevin J. Johnston, who was charged in 2017 by Peel Region police for allegedly promoting a hate crime. There are six people running for councillor in Ward 8. Matt Mahoney, the incumbent, is running for re-election. The other candidates are Grzegorz Nowacki, Amadeus Blazys, Adam Etwell, Tariq Ali Shah, and Abdul Azeem Baig. Students in Mississauga can take part in advance voting from October 5–6 at Mississauga Civic Centre, and October 13–14 at all community centres, and elementary and secondary schools in the Ward 8 area. On Election Day, UTM students have access to various voting locations near campus. St. Mark Separate School, South Common Community Centre, Holy Name of Mary College School, Erindale Secondary School, Oakridge Public School, St. Margaret of Scotland Elementary School, and St. Clare Separate School in Mississauga all offer polling booths close to their classrooms.

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Woodsworth, University College looking for new principals

Current UC principal Donald Ainslie to continue leading U of T revitalization plan Ilya Bañares Deputy News Editor

The search is on to replace professors Joseph Desloges and Donald Ainslie as the heads of Woodsworth College and University College (UC), respectively. Ainslie will continue in his role as co-chair of the Landmark Project. In separate statements issued in May, the university wrote that the two principals are ineligible for reappointment under the Policy on Appointment of Academic Administrators because they are expected to complete their second terms by the end of this school year. U of T Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr explained, “The way that our policy works is that, for all of these positions, people are appointed for a period of usually five years for their first appointment — although the policy says it can be up to seven, it’s usually five years — and then, following the review, they can be appointed for another five years,” referring to faculty members ap-

pointed to administrative roles. Since their departures were announced, advisory committees have been set up to help look for new college heads. Members include Regehr, teaching staff, college students, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science, among others. Following nominations, interested applicants will undergo an interview process. From start to finish, no names are released to the public. “We do confidential searches at the University of Toronto because what we want is to attract outstanding people who might be doing other kinds of interesting jobs that they feel very committed to, and they don't want others to know in a public way that they are perhaps interested in something else,” explained Regehr. Desloges has served as the principal of Woodsworth since 2008, and is also a professor in the Geography and Earth Sciences departments. In its statement, the university lauded Desloges’s various achievements.

“Over the past decade, he has provided exceptional leadership of the College, upholding its emphasis on recruiting and supporting outstanding students from both traditional and non-traditional pathways.” Ainslie has been the principal of University College since 2011. The university praised his accomplishments, stating, “As Principal, Professor Ainslie led University College through a revitalization planning process that resulted in the renovation project currently underway; enhanced resources for University

SMC administration aware of posts, “deplores” any derogatory language

According to Hicks-Malloy’s LinkedIn profile, he has worked for SMC for 29 years.

Evidence has surfaced that St. Michael’s College (SMC) Registrarial Assistant Philip HicksMalloy’s social media have included derogatory posts that have targeted women, Muslims, and other marginalized groups. Many of the postings targeted

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prominent female politicians, including former US Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with a post calling her “a lying, satanic witch from hell.” The postings also shared a video about former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, above which he commented, “This Whore Bitch!!!!!!”

aims to revitalize and pedestrianize parts of the St. George campus. “In terms of other roles at U of T, I will continue to be a professor in the philosophy department. I have some sabbatical coming my way, so the first order of business will [be] finishing a book on the history of ethics,” continued Ainslie. Desloges and Ainslie will finish their terms on June 30, 2019. Their successors are expected to take office the next day.

Both principals are expected to complete their terms in June 2019. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

St. Michael’s College registrarial assistant has history of derogatory posts on social media

Josie Kao News Editor

College’s academic programs; rejuvenated alumni engagement; spearheaded University College’s very successful Boundless Campaign; and helped to create the Art Museum at the University of Toronto.” Although Ainslie will no longer serve as the principal of UC, he will continue with his other roles within the university. In particular, Ainslie told The Varsity in an email that he “will be continuing as the academic co-lead of the Landmark Project, alongside Vice-President University Operations, Scott Mabury,” which

Among the content that has been shared on Hicks-Malloy’s social media was a post that called halal — a guideline that includes what foods are permissible in Islam — a “symbol of treason.” The post was a response to confectionary company Cadbury producing halal foods. On this shared post, Hicks-Malloy’s social media had added a comment

saying, “Boycott this product!” Also included was a shared post on Facebook that read, “People of European descent need to wake up and realize that our culture and identity is being strategically attacked by the Left,” as well as a post that claimed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was legalizing bestiality, which Trudeau has not. Hicks-Malloy’s social media also shared posts from alt-right figures such as Faith Goldy and Milo Yiannopoulos. Goldy has been associated with white nationalists, is a former contributor at The Rebel Media, and is running for mayor of Toronto. Yiannopoulos, a former editor for far-right website Breitbart, has made derogatory comments toward marginalized groups in the past and collaborated with white nationalists. Also on Hicks-Malloy’s Facebook timeline were many posts criticizing Toronto Pride, with one saying that Black Lives Matter had “infiltrated… [Toronto] Pride and have turned everyone against the police.” Hicks-Malloy, who, according to his Facebook profile, is in a samesex marriage, had described himself in a Facebook comment on his timeline as a “gay Homophobe,” and he had also shared a post saying that “the greatest threat to LGBT rights is the Liberal LGBT community.” The Varsity reached out to HicksMalloy multiple times for comment but did not receive a reply. Soon after The Varsity’s attempts to reach him, many of his social media accounts, including Facebook and YouTube, were deleted. In response to the discovery of Hicks-Malloy’s social media accounts in June 2018, then-SMC President David Mulroney told

The Varsity in an email that “the University of St. Michael’s College deplores any use of language that fails to acknowledge the dignity, respect and worth of every person and that is inconsistent with the values of the University, which are rooted in the Gospel.” According to then-SMC Director of Communications, Events, and Outreach Stefan Slovak, SMC had discovered the issue a few days prior to The Varsity’s request for comment in June 2018. Slovak said that they are “taking the issue seriously, but cannot comment further.” SMC’s new president, David Sylvester, told The Varsity in an email, “I became aware of this situation when I began my term at the beginning of July, and am aware of a previous statement made at the time by President David Mulroney, which captures our current position perfectly.” “We take this matter seriously, and are not in a position to offer any further comment at this time,” wrote Sylvester. When asked about the situation this month, he responded, “St. Michael’s has addressed this situation in full accordance with the University’s policies.” “St. Michael’s takes seriously its responsibilities to ensure that all USMC community members conduct themselves professionally at all times. We will not be commenting further regarding what is now an internal matter,” he continued. According to Hicks-Malloy’s LinkedIn profile, which has also been deleted, he has worked for SMC for 29 years. As of press time, Hicks-Malloy is still listed as a registrarial assistant on SMC’s website.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 | 7

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Colleges, student unions expand representation for international students

U of T welcomed 19,187 international students last year

the main governance structures within the College to ensure that international students are being advocated for and included in our programming, academic initiatives and support at New College,” continued Hönig. “We are working to see that international student representation and advocacy is considered within the portfolios of all of our members.” University College University College’s International Student Advisor aims to provide academic and personal resources to International students through their sUCcess Centre. Appointments can be made to meet with an advisor.

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Ann Marie Elpa Associate News Editor

Amid a rising international student population, student unions and the seven colleges are expanding their representation on campus and creating services catered to those demographics. The Varsity reached out to several student unions and college governments for a roundup of international student representation on campus. UTSU The University of Toronto Students’ Union does not have a specific committee geared toward international students. However, it does have positions which serve the international student population, such as Vice-President Student Life and Vice-President Equity. UTGSU The International Students’ Caucus (ISC) at the University of Toronto Graduate Students Union (UTGSU) aims to address the interests and concerns regarding international graduate students. The caucus hosts social, academic, and professional workshops and meetings concerning governance and policy changes within the university community and

the city at large. “The ISC is a group under the UTGSU [that] mainly serves international students’ interests, including academic success, social interaction, and networking,” reads a statement on its website. “Meetings will be held monthly and will focus on the needs of the caucus’ members and the needs of all international graduate students including social interaction, networking, and potential changes in programming and/ or governance at the university, city, and/ or provincial levels.” The ISC’s elected positions include the chair, who oversees the caucus as a whole, and the UTGSU Executive Liaison. UTMSU The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) represents over 13,500 students across the UTM, with 20 per cent of students being international. While the UTMSU does not have a specific position or caucus dedicated to international students, they do provide several services. “We endeavour to ensure that the rights of all students are respected, provide cost-saving services, programs and events, and represent the voices of part-

A roundup of construction, renovations at UTM

Davis, new unnamed building expected to finish next spring Flora Hewitt-Harris Varsity Contributor

Several buildings remain under construction at UTM as the campus welcomes its largest ever first-year cohort. A higher population brings higher demands: more study areas, a wider range of food outlets, and additional teaching spaces are needed. This, in turn, leads to new buildings and renovations.

1. The North Building Expected Completion: late September The original North Building was demolished in 2015. The new six-storey building will have rooftop gardens for those interested in nature, over 500 extra study spaces for students, and technologicallyadvanced classrooms for teachers and learners alike. There will also be numerous charging ports, 390 lockers, and a six-storey atrium space ideal for socializing, working, eating, or just relaxing.

time undergraduate students across the University and to all levels of government,” reads a statement on their website. “We are fundamentally committed to the principle of access to education for all.” The UTMSU also has several campaigns in partnership with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) regarding international student issues, including Fight for Fees, Fairness for International Students, and OHIP for International Students. SCSU The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) currently does not have a specific levy or caucus dedicated to international students; however, it has positions aimed toward serving the needs of domestic and international students alike on campus, such as Vice-President Campus Life and Vice-President Equity. SCSU also provides specific services in partnership with the CFS for international students including the International Student Identity Card, which provides students with exclusive discounts such as airfare and entertainment. Innis College The Innis College student body provides The building will also incorporate special glass designed to deter bird strikes. Furthermore, a resourceful rainwater reuse system will supply water for irrigation and other uses aimed at decreasing waste and energy expenditure. The building will also add large stalls and change tables to washrooms and add both single and all-gender washrooms. The new North Building will house the Centre for South Asian Civilizations and various other departments, with some professors already beginning the transition, and is also set to be a specific space for digital humanities research. 2. Unnamed new building Expected Completion: Spring 2019

a number of resources and services made available to international students. The Innis Residence Council has six positions for Junior International House Representatives who work alongside Senior House Representatives to coordinate events and foster a sense of involvement. An International Transition Advisor is also available on campus. New College New College houses the International Foundation Program, which provides conditional acceptance to international students whose English proficiency scores do not meet direct entrance requirements. The program guarantees admission to the Faculty of Arts & Science or the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering upon completion. Madison Hönig, New College Student Council President, told The Varsity, “At New College, international students make up an important part of our student population. We are lucky to house the International Foundation Program (IFP) at New College. As such, we do have an International Foundation Program Representative to advocate for these students.” “Additionally, we work closely with the New College Residence Council and The currently untitled building is expected to be a two-storey glass and steel structure. It will become part of the student pedestrian walkway that extends across campus from the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre and past the CCT Building and Student Centre. In addition to hosting the Campus Police Services and Hospitality & Retail Operations, the building will also provide an extension to the existing Academic Annex via a shared courtyard and garden. 3. Renovations to the William G. Davis Building Expected Completion: Spring 2019 The renovation of the William G. Davis Building comprises updates to numer-

Victoria College Victoria College International Students Association (VISA) is a levy funded by the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council that aims to support the needs and interests of international students at Victoria College. VISA is used to host social, academic, and professional events throughout the year and also funds a mentorship program for incoming students. “Our program offered help to students from all backgrounds, in which the mentor would be providing both academic and moral support to the students transitioning into the new university environment, through a two-hour session every two weeks,” reads a statement from the mentorship program’s website. Woodsworth College The International Students Director under the Woodsworth College Student Association (WCSA) is the representative for international students at Woodsworth College. The International Students Director also coordinates events hosted by the association catered to international students. “With this role, I hope to connect with not only incoming international students but also upper year students to bridge the gap between them. I look forward to continuing with some of the events introduced by last year’s director as well as introducing a few new ones,” reads a statement on its website from from Leslie Mutoni, WCSA’s International Students Director. During the 2017–2018 academic year, the university welcomed over 19,187 international students from across 163 countries and regions, mainly from China, India, the United States, South Korea, and Hong Kong. The Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students and student societies at St. Michael’s College and Trinity College did not respond to The Varsity’s requests for comment.

ous areas and services. It currently houses lecture theatres, laboratories, classrooms, and offices, along with the Temporary Food Court (TFC), the UTM bookstore, and it is linked to the Recreation, Athletics, and Wellness Centre. The renovations will create a refurbished main entrance and new accessible washrooms adjacent to the TFC. The changes are designed to accommodate the increased student population. According to Paul Donoghue, then-UTM Chief Administrative Officer, a “new living room for the campus” will be formed of a permanent food court and a meeting hub that will provide seating for up to 1,000 people. The social area will be built in the location of the demolished Meeting Place.

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Tensions abound at September UTSU board meeting Accusations of lies, discussions of forced resignations take centre stage

The board voted to accept the resignation of one of the New College Directors. ANDY TAKAGI/THE VARSITY

Josie Kao and Adam A. Lam Varsity Staff

Once again, tensions ran high at the monthly Board of Directors meeting for the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU). Directors confronted executives about bad communication and discussed motions to force the resignations of 11 directors under Bylaw X. Ongoing negotiations to separate from the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU), the resignation of one director, and the hiring of another to fill the vacancy were also discussed. Accusations over miscommunication Academic Director of Social Sciences Joshua Bowman accused Vice-President Equity Ammara Wasim of falsifying her July Executive Report, which detailed the work she completed that month. In the report, Wasim claimed that she sent a Google Form to “more than twenty U of T-based equity focused clubs” in order “to spread the word on the Equity collectives and get more students to join.” An equity collective is an advocacy group that discusses issues of social justice. “I would like to encourage the VP Equity to not blatantly lie,” said Bowman. “I have my inbox in front of me right now — a contact was never made to [the Indigenous Studies Students’ Union (ISSU)]. I’d suggest against doing that in the future.” But Bowman, citing his position as the President of the ISSU, insisted that “it’s not enough to say that you’re going to reach out to them and not reaching out at all.” “If we want to bring these voices to the table

that have been disenfranchised, you have to do more of the legwork as the UTSU.” Chair Billy Graydon recommended Bowman “avoid direct accusations against other members of the assembly,” as “usually these things are misunderstandings.” Wasim later found records indicating that she did indeed send the materials. She identified the source of the conflict as an unintentional mix-up between email addresses for the Centre for Indigenous Studies and the ISSU. According to Wasim, the incorrect email address appears in the first Google result for the query, “Indigenous Students Student Union email.” Wasim added that “instead of waiting a whole month to accuse someone, it might have been wise to just reach out.” Bowman clarified that he had emailed President Anne Boucher earlier, which Boucher confirmed, but followed with an apology for his earlier statements: “I believe I overstepped by using the word ‘liar’ and I’d like to apologize for that.” Attempts to invoke Bylaw X Also on the agenda were motions to force the resignations of 11 directors, as allowed under Bylaw X. Chengye Yang, one of New College’s three UTSU directors, voluntarily sent in a letter of resignation. According to Section 2 of the union’s Bylaw X, a Division I or II director “shall be deemed to have delivered their resignation, confirmed by a simple majority vote of the Board” whenever said member has failed to send regrets for two missed meetings, failed to attend three consecutive meetings or any four meetings regardless of sent regrets, or failed to attend any three committee meetings.

The UTSU also hired a new Faculty Director of Law at the meeting. ANDY TAKAGI/THE VARSITY

During the discussion, Bowman noted that absence should not be conflated with a lack of work outside of meetings. After spending 30 minutes of its two-hour meeting discussing whether or not to force the resignations of the remaining 10 directors, it was decided that the board would adopt a more lenient interpretation of the bylaw and be more tolerant of absences in the summer. As such, the board determined that the 10 motions were out of order. Immediately after, the directors voted to accept Yang’s resignation. Graydon mentioned that positions left vacant at this time could be put up for by-election.

Other business The UTSU also went in camera to discuss their negotiations to separate from the UTMSU. In camera meetings only allow board members to sit in. The UTMSU delegation, which holds seven appointed positions on the UTSU board, left voluntarily. A motion from Innis College Director Lucas Granger to hold the October board meeting at UTMSU failed, due in part to conflicts with midterm exams. According to the UTSU’s bylaws, the board must hold at least one meeting per session at UTM. The UTSU also hired a new Faculty Director of Law, Alexandra Hergaarden Robertson.

Comment

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A debate on the Autumn Munk Debate

Two opposing student perspectives on the upcoming Toronto debate about populism, which features the controversial Steve Bannon The Autumn Munk Debate will take place at Roy Thomson Hall on November 2.

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Arjun Kaul and Varsha Pillai Varsity Contributors

“Be it resolved, the future of western politics is populist, not liberal…” PRO: Steve Bannon CON: David Frum The left gains from listening, not silencing Steve Bannon, if you are not familiar with the name, is many things — none of which I would take much pride in being called. He is a media executive, investment banker, and a former executive of Breitbart News. Most importantly, however, he is an alt-right politician who was the White House’s Chief Strategist during the first seven months of the Trump presidency, until his highprofile departure. Bannon’s views are clear and controversial: under him, Breitbart was immersed in scandals regarding, but not limited to, racism, antisemitism, sexism, and white supremacism. During the disastrous 2016 United States presidential elections, when it was announced Bannon would take up an influential post in the White House, there was an incredulous outpouring of public outrage. Most recently, following widespread criticism of its selection, The New Yorker dropped Bannon from its upcoming festival in October. Similarly, there are calls to disinvite Bannon from speaking at the Autumn Munk Debate in Toronto against David Frum, where Bannon will support the proposition, “the future of western politics is populist, not liberal.” Many are worried about allowing Bannon to spread his alt-right, populist views. However, Bannon’s disinvitation due to public outrage would be a very clear violation of free speech. Bannon, irrespective of the repulsiveness of his views, should be allowed to share his perspective and ‘educate’ the audience. Particularly, the most important redeeming quality from his speech is that we can critically reflect on that with which we disagree, a practice that can help us cultivate stronger and more well-rounded arguments. In the current political climate, an observation I have made is that those

who are left-leaning, with which I identify myself, seem to be too impatient to listen to the opposition’s argument. We become so overcome with outrage that we quickly pick up on the disgraceful rhetoric expressed by the opposition, rather than think about the context in which that expression is made. However, this should not be confused with justification for any spiteful words articulated by the alt-right. The left speaks up everywhere — on the streets, on social media, in public spaces, in government. This has unwittingly helped the opposition cultivate its argument. One of the major reasons the alt-right is so successful in the dissemination of its information is that it listens to everything we say, framing and responding to every one of our talking points before we even say them. Our views are so easily accessible and visible in society for the opposition to read, especially given our propensity to protest and march. The power of free speech gives us the opportunity to not only express ourselves, but to enjoy the expressions of those with whom we disagree; by better knowing the opposition, we can improve the quality of our arguments and our capacity to challenge them. However, the left continues to squander this opportunity — rather than exercise reason and pay attention to the alt-right, we are bested by emotion and demand its silence. It would be extremely beneficial for U of T students to attend the Autumn Munk Debate and listen to Bannon’s views on populism. As the Western world undergoes rapid change, typical understandings of the functions of a democratic society — trade, immigration, foreign policy — are being questioned. Populism has taken the front seat in this new era of politics. The value of this Munk Debate is that it will expose the logic of an alternative political system and its approaches to governance. Although populism currently seems like a radical idea, there is no saying what the future holds — after all, liberal democracy was at one time viewed as revolutionary. Bannon, who is closely associated with the most powerful populist figure in the world — Donald Trump — may grant the audience

exclusive insights into the concept. Providing Steve Bannon with a platform does not put anyone at risk. Ironically, it provides the left with the opportunity to develop its understanding of the increasingly relevant concept and practice of populism, and potentially, to improve the way it can engage and argue against the opposition. The Toronto public, and especially our student body, must be equipped with all the tools needed to debate those who have different values and perspectives. To this end, the left, rather than seek the disinvitation of Bannon, should invite themselves to listen. Varsha Pillai is a first-year Social Sciences student at University College. The absence of the left points to a questionable debate It should first be noted that the proposition is reductive and vague. Most scholars associate the term ‘populism’ with politicians who emphasize their loyalty to the majority of the population and reject the ‘elites.’ Ultimately, populism is an approach to politics that depends on the ideology that brings it into force; this renders the discussion of a general concept of ‘populism’ a flawed debate topic. Furthermore, the dichotomy presented between populism and liberalism is questionable, given the rise of seemingly-paradoxical ‘neoliberal populist’ movements, such as French President Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche! movement. The choice of participants for the Autumn Munk Debate opens the door to an even more significant void in this debate: that of ideological representation. Putting aside the surprising absence of voices from Europe, which has been shaken by numerous populist movements, in a debate about Western politics, the larger issue remains that there is no representation for left-wing populism. The views on stage will range from centre-right to far-right. To only invite a right-wing populist, Bannon, under the guise that he speaks for the entire pro-populist side, is both unfair to populism and inaccurate of its actual manifestations. These debates are responsible for providing the jumping-

off points for people’s thoughts on these ideas — to fail to inform people that support for populism is not exclusive to the alt-right will only lead to ignorance. Beyond ideology, Bannon himself is unrepresentative of the populist base that he claims to represent. Bannon, who is a privately-schooled, Harvardeducated former investment banker, is part of the elite he purports to criticize. Indeed, many recent right-wing populist movements have been no different: Trump is a Wharton graduate of immense inherited wealth; Brexit was led by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, both Oxbridge graduates who employ ‘reject the experts’ rhetoric. Of course, David Frum is hardly representative of the ‘liberal’ side either: he has been responsible for one of the most authoritarian speeches in recent American history, employing highly populist rhetoric to attack non-Western democracies. The Munk Debates’ ignorance of leftist supporters on either side of this debate points to a troubling trend in Western politics, one that says that the people "have had enough of experts,” as

Gove famously said on British television just before Brexit — a trend that places trust in loud polemicists, often perceived as ‘public intellectuals,’ instead. Populism should not be seriously discussed without bringing in experts on the digital spread of information and misinformation, the increasing levels of support for referendum-driven democracy, and other phenomena which have allowed Western populism to flourish — and neither Bannon nor Frum cite these experts when making their cases. Populism deserves a more holistic, informed, and global analysis. We then come to a final problem: that of Bannon’s actual attendance at the debate. Bannon’s ideas are one problem, but the platform that this debate could give him is a far more dangerous one. Bannon has a history of expressing sexist and racist views. He co-ran Trump’s 2016 election campaign, one which coincided with a hitherto-unforeseen spike in hate crimes reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Bannon uses the affectation of reason to push hateful ideas. The Munk Debates are propagating the idea that Bannon and his ideas are reasonable by putting him up on stage. This is not a free speech issue. The suppression of free speech entails censorship: denying someone any sort of platform, private or public. Bannon has many platforms and he has used them to repeat the same message. His ideas have been publicized throughout the last few years, by everyone from liberallearning mass media to demagogues like Nigel Farage, Kellie Leitch, and Viktor Orbán. We must consider the fact that, even if we did want to hear the words of Bannon, he does not have anything important to say. Bannon should be dropped from this debate because of the horrific ideals he openly espouses — ideals which he has been given chance after chance to spread. But even if the Munk Debates decide to tolerate the fact that Bannon is one of the worst people in modern Western media, he should be dropped simply because, as someone who is both unrepresentative of populism and ideologically worn out, he is irrelevant to the topic at hand. Arjun Kaul is a fifth-year Neuroscience student at St. Michael’s College.

Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist under US President Donald Trump, will argue in favour of populism. MICHAEL VADON/CC FLICKR

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Op-ed: Graphic antiabortion protests have no place on campus Anti-abortion groups’ use of shock tactics to convey their beliefs undermines women’s safety and erodes civil culture on campus Amelia Eaton Varsity Contributor

As a Head Orientation Leader for Woodsworth College Orientation this year, I was tasked with welcoming incoming first-year students to university life. Equipped with a detailed logistics package, contingency plans for each activity, sunscreen, a water bottle, and an endless supply of temporary tattoos, I was both mentally and physically prepared for many of the challenges of the week. However, none of my training adequately prepared me for an encounter with anti-abortion protesters the day of the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) Tri-Campus Parade. Amid the chants of “Woody Woody Woody,” our beloved orientation cheer, the muffled voices of these protesters could be heard, and through the sea of forest green Woodsworth t-shirts, a gruesome poster claiming to depict a late-term abortion was visible. It was hardly my first interaction with an anti-abortion demonstration. I was reminded of my own first-year at U of T, when I had decided to go to Robarts Library for the first time, only to be met with graphic signage and chanting at the St. George Street and Harbord Street intersection. At the time, I was immediately taken aback by the fact that anti-abortion organizers would target a library early into the university semester with such graphic material. My university campus had become a minefield of distressing images, and I soon learned to follow UTSU

Pro-choice demonstrators during UTSU Street Fest.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

Vice-President University Affairs Josh Grondin and other students on Twitter in order to know when anti-abortion protests were taking place and plan my routes to avoid them. Despite my best efforts, I came faceto-face with the same vitriol a year later, outside the gates of Varsity Stadium during the annual Tri-Campus Parade. My concern then was not of my own comfort, but rather that of the first-year students I was now leading. I wondered how to contextualize the display, and how to explain to new students that these were, unfortunately, commonplace on campus but not endorsed by the university. To make matters worse, one of the organizers had stolen a Woodsworth orientation sign, implying that our college sponsored their messages. While I tried to come up with some way of addressing the situation, a first-year student from behind me started to chant “pro-choice.” As more and more students joined the cheer, I witnessed that after less than a week on campus, first-year students were already asserting themselves against the display. As the Ontario government’s new policy requiring universities to protect free speech on campus comes into effect on January 1, the potential for anti-abortion organizers to target students intensifies.

The government mandate requires Ontario universities to come up with policies that enforce free speech, excluding only speech that constitutes the legal definition of hate speech, or face funding cuts. Anti-abortion groups at many universities have often been denied club status and funding due to their views, which may change when Ontario universities update their free speech policies. New, more lax free speech policies from universities may also embolden protesters. Using graphic imagery, misinformation, and misogynistic language, the presence of these groups on campus does not fall in line with the ideals of free expression and academic discourse that universities are meant to uphold. Instead, they take up space in order to intimidate and distress students going about their everyday lives. This issue is not unique to U of T, and a recent CBC news article detailed how across Canadian university campuses, anti-abortion groups are using distressing images to gain attention. Moreover, emergency pregnancy care centres located near or on university campuses are coming under fire for spreading misinformation. One pregnancy support centre was recently kicked out of the Acadia Student Union office building for reportedly telling patients that undergoing an

abortion increases a women’s chances of developing breast cancer. Women’s health and well-being is disproportionately impacted by the spread of misinformation and demonstrations by anti-abortion groups, which admit to purposefully targeting these subjects. In an interview with the National Post, the Executive Director of the anti-abortion group National Campus Life Network, Ruth Shaw, claimed that of Canada’s 100,000 abortions annually, roughly half involve women aged 18 to 24, “which is why we focus so heavily on university campuses.” Women have been historically excluded from university, and even now are underrepresented in many fields. When anti-abortion groups target women as they pursue higher education, they perpetuate a campus culture that causes women to feel unsafe and excluded. For women, trans, or non-binary folks with experiences of miscarriages or unplanned pregnancies, these images are even more distressing. I am not asking that universities invoke censorship policies or attempt to enforce homogeny. As a Political Science student, everyday I encounter and grapple with views I don’t agree with from my professors and classmates, and I am better for it. But being exposed to offensive

heckling and highly graphic imagery on my way to campus does not make me more informed, more intelligent, or more empathetic. Quite honestly, it just makes me feel sad, scared, and targeted. To be clear, I support students’ rights to freedom of expression and association, and I believe that religious and pro-life students should be able to form organizations. But there are ways for students to voice their opinions without jeopardizing the psychological well-being of their peers. Weapons divestment groups, for example, can get their point across without resorting to gruesome images of the effects of weapons. In fact, anti-abortion groups’ reliance on shock tactics only shows how little faith they have in the substance of their arguments. Although free speech is important, the flagrant spread of misinformation and offensive comparisons of abortion to the Holocaust and other tragedies by certain anti-abortion groups are clearly a threat to a civil campus culture. Graphic antiabortion protests simply have no place on campus. Amelia Eaton is a second-year Political Science and Ethics, Society, and Law student at Woodsworth College. She is the Mental Health Director at the Woodsworth College Students’ Association.

A summer’s worth of Letters to the Editor Re: Exploring the gentrification of thrift stores “I think the comment about the environmental sustainability of thrifting is an important aspect that shouldn’t be ignored.” — Cove MacDonald (from web) Re: Who’s really the GOAT: LeBron or Jordan? “I thought you were supposed to be an extension of academic critical analysis. If you contextualized the greatest players’ careers in terms of individual talent, skill, will, and strength of competition, the two greatest in history are clearly Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. In that order.” — Connor O’Hara (from web)

Re: U of T student dead after house fire in Scarborough “There’s lots of students living in dangerous housing around UTSC, houses with 5-10 students living in poorly renovated, often illegal, units. People in basements without enlarged windows or secondary exits, people living in living rooms. A lot of it comes down to the fact that the Scarborough’s housing code doesn’t allow for rooming houses, so when multiple people live together, its often not legal. I hope that this situation pushes the city and the school to do more to make sure that students are safe when choosing to live near the school.” — Thomas Wood (from web)

Re: Mentally ill students should not be forced out of school “Please use: Persons experiencing Mental Health issues. Using mentally ill or unstable is discriminatory and offensive.” — Kathleen Eubanks (from web) Re: Breaking down the Toronto van attack “Enforced monogamy isn’t the redistribution of sex. It’s an anthropological term that means a societal pressure to stop polygamy. This was a ridiculous mistake and misrepresentation of Jordan Peterson which he’s had to explain numerous times now because journalists just can’t keep it straight.” — Jimmy Issa (from web)

Re: The Ontario sex ed repeal can’t erase queer families, only perpetuate ignorance “It is a sad day. Toronto has a very diverse population, various orientations. I remember in the sixties, the head down attitude. Sex and booze just did not exist, except everywhere on campus. Turning out the lights and pushing the problems back in the closet will make it worse. Given the problems with clergy of all faiths and authority figures, children need information, not ignorance and abuse.” — Michael Rynne (from web)

Editorial

September 17, 2018 var.st/comment editorial@thevarsity.ca

Doug Ford, stop trying to be the Premier of Toronto

Ford’s first months in office culminate in an assault on Toronto city politics, reflecting a faux populism that threatens Ontario's most vulnerable

Ford held a rare weekend session of the Ontario legislature in a continued attempt to slash the size of the Toronto City Council.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

The Varsity Editorial Board

Last September, Doug Ford announced that he would again run for Mayor of Toronto in 2018 — having lost the 2014 election to John Tory. Ford’s experience in City Hall, however, was never commensurate with his eagerness for the mayoralty. As a city councillor, Ford had one of the worst attendance and voting records among his colleagues, often spoke of his frustrations with the council as “dysfunctional,” and even spoke about running from Toronto politics. Ford first expressed interest in running for Premier of Ontario in 2013, and so he did successfully this past year. His platform was particularly focused on eliminating the “inefficiencies” in government. He also promised to represent Northern Ontario and everyday Ontarians, as opposed to the elites. But instead of “running away” from Toronto politics, Ford dove right in. One of his most targeted “inefficiencies” seems to be the size of the Toronto City Council, which he tried to halve earlier this summer with the passing of Bill 5. Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba recently struck down Bill 5 as unconstitutional, ruling that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Belobaba's ruling states that the cuts “undermine an otherwise fair election and substantially interfere with the candidates’ freedom of expression.” In response, Ford is attempting to invoke the notwithstanding clause of the Charter, which would enable him to override certain portions of the Charter and overwrite the judge’s decision. The number of wards is being debated and contested in the middle of the campaign cycle, with the municipal elections just five weeks away. Opposition and protest against the council size cut has intensified. Former Chief City Planner, U of T instructor, and 2018 candidate

for mayor Jennifer Keesmaat even expressed support for Toronto’s secession, though she later retracted this, saying that it was in “frustration.” Ford claims that he is standing up for the 2.3 million Ontarians who elected him, “because it is the people, not the judiciary, who should ultimately decide how we are governed.” Ford’s reasoning that he is entitled to push through legislation because he was elected, whereas the judge was appointed, is fundamentally flawed. In an imperfect but functional liberal democracy, it is not sufficient to govern based on the will of the majority, as represented through the government. Rather, there are checks in place to protect individual and minority rights and freedoms. The independence of the judiciary reflects a separation of powers, which is intended to hold the government accountable if it tries to breach those rights and freedoms in the name of ‘democracy.’ It is vital to remember that judges are not elected because the insertion of politics into the judicial system would undermine the very impartiality needed to hold governments accountable. Ford’s disrespect for the judge’s decision undermines the very rule of law upon which our society functions, and sets a dangerous precedent to further invoke the notwithstanding clause whenever he sees fit. His appeal to majoritarianism is also questionable. Only a plurality, not a majority, of Ontarians, voted for his government; he was handed a majority of seats in the legislature because of the first-past-the-post system. He should therefore be careful when trying to use majoritarian rhetoric, and should understand that his mandate is to govern Ontario, not Toronto. Like US President Donald Trump, Ford is a faux populist. He claims to be challenging the elites, when in fact he is a millionaire businessman who is very much one of them.

Thus far, his policies have not attempted to dismantle the elites, but rather have targeted democratic norms and Ontario’s most vulnerable communities. His interference with Toronto’s election, for instance, happened without any consultation or electoral mandate — it was never a part of his campaign platform. Furthermore, the impact of the council size cut promises to be devastating. Fewer wards translates to more residents per ward; this means that each individual resident has less representation and voice in government. This particularly worsens conditions for marginalized communities, who already lack voice when it comes to issues related to lowincome and race. They would have benefitted from the 2016 decision to increase the number of wards from 44 to 47, as well as the emergence of newcomer candidates from those communities. Instead, they are left with less access to city democracy than ever. Ford’s intervention, by adding confusion and uncertainty about the fate of the election, has also shifted public attention away from the actual content of the election. Issues like affordable housing and transit, which are key for students, have unfortunately taken a backseat. Some argue that Ford’s obsession with Toronto is revenge for his mayoral loss to Tory four years ago. But this understates Ford’s ideological scope. Since the beginning of the summer, Ford’s pursuit of “efficiency” has meant cuts to social, educational, and environmental policies that would have benefitted marginalized communities. He scrapped the basic income project and made cuts to welfare increases; reversed the 2015 sex ed curriculum, which addressed LGBTQ+ issues; cancelled a curriculum update that would have included more Indigenous content; and is challenging the federal government

over climate change on the carbon tax plan. While making cuts, Ford has invested in disciplinary surveillance tactics that threaten marginalized communities. For instance, creating a ‘snitch line’ to report teachers committed to the 2015 sex ed curriculum; threatening universities into adopting ‘free speech’ policies at the risk of losing funding, which invariably targets critics of oppression; and investing millions into the Toronto Police Service in response to a violent summer, even though racialized communities have indicated the need for socioeconomic investment. Ford’s assault on Toronto parallels his attack on universities, schools, and marginalized communities. All reflect an anti-democratic agenda, which exploits ‘for the people’ rhetoric, but in reality stands up for no one but the most privileged in society. Democracies function by achieving a fine balance between the will of the majority and the protection of minorities. Ford does neither: he has failed to respect the will of Torontonians and engage in fair democratic processes, and through strongman politics he has made an aggressive assault on vulnerable communities in Ontario. If Ford is truly committed to the people, he should stop making harmful cuts in the name of “efficiency” and spending time on unconstitutional power plays. He should stop trying to be the Premier of Toronto and undermining the city’s jurisdiction, and focus instead on improving the lives of all Ontarians. Students’ political, social, and economic interests are at stake. We should be aware and ready to resist Ford if there is no end in sight to his faux populism. The Varsity’s editorial board is elected by the masthead at the beginning of each semester. For more information about the editorial policy, email editorial@thevarsity.ca.

12 | THE VARSITY | FEATURES

“Cowardly murder”: U of T accounting clerk and part-time caterer found beaten to death in the foyer of his home in spring 2011 Estranged husband, husband’s lover convicted seven years later Writer: Ilya Bañares Design: Pearl Cao Photo: Court Exhibit

At 5:00 pm, Allan Lanteigne’s day finally ended. Saying goodbye to his colleagues at the University of Toronto’s Ancillary and Capital Accounting office, he walked out the door and headed home. On his way, he thought of his estranged husband, who had been away in Europe for quite some time, and who had asked him earlier that day to call once he got home. About what, Lanteigne didn’t know; he was just told not to “dilly dally.” After a twenty-something-minute commute through the west end, he arrived at 934 Ossington Avenue. Climbing the brick steps, Lanteigne fumbled for his key, hoping to get the conversation with his husband over soon. At around 5:37 pm, he walked inside and closed the door behind him. Then, in an instant, he was attacked. Lanteigne had likely scratched desperately at his assailant, but could not fend him off. His attacker fled, leaving him bleeding on the ground. Lanteigne died soon after. Bludgeoned to death. The evening crept into morning. Almost 24 hours later, police discovered Lanteigne’s body right in front of his door. He was lying face-down in the middle of the foyer, still wearing his coat from the day before. —————————————— On March 2, 2011 at 3:20 pm, Allan Lanteigne was found murdered in his own home, with “obvious signs of trauma,” according to investigators at the scene. Homicide Detective Tam Bui, one of the case’s investigators with the Toronto Police Service, would tell me years later that once officers arrived at the scene, there was no question that Lanteigne’s death was suspicious. The autopsy only confirmed what they already knew — he was beaten to death in a homicide. News of Lanteigne’s passing spread quickly amongst family, friends, and colleagues. The day after the autopsy results were released to the public, people began posting messages of shock and horror on his Facebook wall. “I will miss you so much,” wrote Carmine Malfitano. “You will live forever in our hearts. There is no justice. You are the purest soul. My friend forever more,” posted Claudia Ammar. On April 1, Lanteigne’s funeral was held in Saint John, New Brunswick — a long way from his Ossington home. Mourners attended to remember their late friend, many of whom described him as “kind” and “gentle.” But one prominent figure was missing. His husband, Demitry Papasotiriou, or Papasotiriou-Lanteigne, as he would be referred to years later in official court documents. He was in Europe at the time of the murder. He had heard about Lanteigne’s death over the phone, police said, but declined to return for the funeral.

———————————— In 2018, Bui told me that PapasotiriouLanteigne’s absence from his husband’s service was a strong red flag in the investigation. From the get-go, police had identified PapasotiriouLanteigne as a person of interest — they had spoken to him over the phone after they discovered Lanteigne’s body, but they found him to be uncooperative. According to Bui, he was confrontational and refused to speak to investigators unless his criminal defence lawyer was physically with police in Toronto while he was on speakerphone in Greece. Lanteigne and Papasotiriou-Lanteigne’s marriage had taken their family and friends by surprise. The two had only known each other for a few months before they got married in November 2004. But they were a couple in a love, and Lanteigne soon moved into PapasotiriouLanteigne’s Ossington Avenue home. For a fleeting moment, they were happy. Only five years later, a new man entered the picture: Mladen “Michael” Ivezic, a married father from Mississauga. He became Papasotiriou-Lanteigne’s new lover. They met online and almost immediately began what would later be described as an “intensely intimate” affair that they kept as a closelyguarded secret from their partners and their families. They grew so close that PapasotiriouLanteigne gave Ivezic a key to his house. Despite their crumbling relationship, Lanteigne continued to live with his husband. Lacking a connection with his husband, he turned his attention on the house itself, investing time, money, and effort into making the building a comfortable place. He widened the front porch, put an addition into the third floor, and filled the home with antique furniture. In 2009, Papasotiriou-Lanteigne was accepted into the University of Lucerne’s doctorate of law program in Switzerland. He left Lanteigne behind — but paid for Ivezic’s visits. A new start. That was supposed to be the end. Husband moves away with new boyfriend; partner stays behind and rebuilds. But things didn’t go that way. In the spring of 2010, the couple moved to Greece, where Papasotiriou-Lanteigne has dual citizenship. Papasotiriou-Lanteigne demanded money from his husband so that he and his boyfriend could sustain a lavish lifestyle, away from the demands of his numerous commitments. At this point, Lanteigne had been working two jobs. Aside from his job as an accounting clerk for U of T, he also worked part-time as a caterer, providing for both himself in Canada and his husband abroad. He was struggling to pay the bills and maxed out his credit cards just to survive. Tensions between Lanteigne and Papasotiriou-Lanteigne eventually reached a breaking point. Papasotiriou-Lanteigne asked Lanteigne to liquidate the $23,000 that he had saved for retirement, but Lanteigne refused. “I am working my ass off and I do not see you doing anything,” wrote Lanteigne in an email. “My husband is having the time of his life in

Greece and Switzerland and with his hand out and I’m here like a slave giving it to him,” he wrote to someone else. A month before his death, Lanteigne sent his spouse $1,425. “There will be no more,” he told his husband. On March 2, Papasotiriou-Lanteigne sent Lanteigne an email, asking Lanteigne to call him in Greece. “Don’t dilly dally on your way home buying shoes and shirts and crystal balls,” wrote Papasotiriou-Lanteigne. At 5:00 pm that day, Lanteigne packed up his bag and walked out the door. After a short commute, he arrived home at Ossington Avenue and unlocked the door.

More than a year and a half later, PapasotiriouLanteigne was arrested in Toronto. In a press conference at police headquarters on November 2, 2012, Bui told reporters that they had arrested Papasotiriou-Lanteigne on charges of first-degree murder. He had just arrived back in the country after years of living in Europe. With Bui was Dan Sterritt, husband of Lanteigne’s sister, Jocelyne. “When you lose someone through something so senseless and tragic as a murder, it’s almost incomprehensible,” said Sterritt. “Allan was a loving family member. That sounds so inadequate to say. He was the organizer of the family reunions, he was the favourite uncle to nieces and nephews, he was a brother that was remembered as being kind and generous.” But why was Papasotiriou-Lanteigne back in Canada? Shortly after Lanteigne was brutally murdered, without stepping foot on the continent, Papasotiriou-Lanteigne sought all the financial benefits he believed he was entitled to as a surviving spouse. With the help of Ivezic, who was physically in the GTA at that point, Papasotiriou-Lanteigne was able to receive thousands of dollars in benefits as Lanteigne’s widower. The main attraction among the benefits was Lanteigne’s $2 million life insurance policy. Spread across two private companies, it named Papasotiriou-Lanteigne as the sole beneficiary. When Lanteigne’s family caught wind of his movements, they fought PapasotiriouLanteigne in court. Their lawyer would argue that a man found criminally responsible for killing his husband should not be able to profit from it. Papasotiriou-Lanteigne’s legal team contended that the family was not named in the life insurance policy — ergo, they should not be eligible to receive any benefits from Lanteigne’s death. In late 2012, after months of a civil suit, Papasotiriou-Lanteigne returned to Canada to fight the case. Police arrested him soon after. The hefty life insurance policy, Bui told me, was another red flag. He explained that Lanteigne earned around $50,000 a year at U of T, which has a general employee policy that is around twice the employee’s salary. This

means that Lanteigne’s policy would have been around $100,000. It would also be normal for Lanteigne to have an additional $100,000 policy, Bui said, so an approximate $200,000 policy would have been suitable for their economic conditions. The seven-figure amount sounded an alarm for investigators and, coupled with other factors, led to the charge and arrest of PapasotiriouLanteigne. Police also identified Ivezic as a suspect and charged him with first-degree murder. Two months later, with an arrest warrant issued by Interpol, the Hellenic National Police arrested Ivezic in Athens. By early June 2013, Ivezic had been extradited back to Canada and had made a court appearance at Old City Hall, signalling both the end of a two-year manhunt and the beginning of a five-year legal process. The search for suspects was over. It was the moment that Lanteigne’s loved ones had been waiting for. With both suspects on Canadian soil, the criminal trial could finally begin. But due to delays, proceedings wouldn’t begin until the end of the summer the following year, when preliminary hearings — used to determine if cases can go to trial — began. That fall, the trajectory changed again. In an unexpected decision, Ontario Court Justice Shaun Nakatsuru threw out the first-degree murder charge against Papasotiriou-Lanteigne, citing insufficient evidence presented against him at the time. Papasotiriou-Lanteigne was subsequently released to his mother. Ivezic continued to stand trial. “It was very tragic when Allan died and it will always be tragic,” Papasotiriou-Lanteigne said through his lawyer at the time. “I’m just relieved to be free of the accusation that I had anything to do with it.” The Crown quickly sought to overturn the decision. On October 21, Crown lawyers alleged that Nakatsuru had failed to consider the array of evidence presented to him in preliminary hearings, and asked a higher court judge to order Nakatsuru to move ahead with the first-degree murder trial of PapasotiriouLanteigne. But before the Crown’s appeal could go through, Ontario Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur intervened using a rare move called “preferred indictment” to bypass the system. Under the Criminal Code, the Ministry of the Attorney General has the power to reinstate a case — “prefer” an indictment — to the Superior Court if it was dismissed during preliminary hearings. And so it was settled. The case would finally go ahead. —————— In a courtroom at Old City Hall on November 27, 2017, jurors began listening to the criminal case against PapasotiriouLanteigne and Ivezic. After years of delay from Papsotiriou-Lanteigne and Ivezic, the trial was finally given the go-ahead in late 2017 — exactly 13 years after Lanteigne and Papasotiriou-Lanteigne were married.

features@thevarsity.ca

The proceedings were ugly. Crown prosecutor Anna Tenhouse painted a picture of a secret affair, closely-guarded from the two suspects’ families, and a heightening sense of greed that led to a plot to murder Lanteigne for the financial benefits. Tenhouse read excerpts from emails exchanged between PapasotiriouLanteigne and Ivezic while they were together to the jurors, and pointed out that Papasotiriou-Lanteigne gave Ivezic a key to 934 Ossington Avenue. She argued that since there was no evidence of forced entry into the home, Ivezic had used the key to enter the home and wait for Lanteigne to arrive home. The “dilly dally” email, Tenhouse argued, was the couple’s way of luring him into their trap. However, the so-called ‘smoking gun’ wasn’t the emails or the money. Forensic

biologist Kimberley Sharpe discovered foreign DNA under Lanteigne’s fingernails, indicating that he had fought off his attacker — and the DNA matched Ivezic’s. According to Sharpe, the DNA transfer had to have come from something close, something physical. Ivezic denied the charge, and said that the transfer most likely came from the last time he saw Lanteigne — they had allegedly had lunch together days before the incident. He said that even though he and Papasotiriou-Lanteigne were in a romantic relationship, he kept an acquaintanceship with Lanteigne. His argument was strongly undercut by the fact that jurors did not see any evidence that supported these claims. Papasotiriou-Lanteigne’s defence, on the other hand, hinged both on the fact that he was out of the country at the time of his husband’s death, and that he had

a pending property sale in Greece that could have netted him around $600,000. The crux of his legal arguments, however, threw his lover under the bus. During the trial, PapasotiriouLanteigne’s counsel suggested that Ivezic may have had his own reasons for potentially murdering Lanteigne, like jealousy. They told jurors that he may have acted without informing his new lover. Earlier, Ivezic claimed he was being unfairly prosecuted for his lifestyle. He conceded he was guilty of cheating on his wife and lying to his three children, but “last time I checked, an extramarital affair is not a criminal offence in Canada.” Ivezic fired his lawyer and began to represent himself during court proceedings. The case dragged on.

In early June this year, the jury handed down their decision to convict both Papasotiriou-Lanteigne and Ivezic of first-degree murder. The two men were automatically sentenced to life in prison, without eligibility for parole for 25 years. “This was not a spontaneous response to a lover’s quarrel, or a couple of drug dealers fighting over turf. This was a cowardly murder, by two-cold-blooded killers of a gentle and decent man,” said Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein in court. Earlier this month, PapasotiriouLanteigne appealed his case, alleging that jurors misunderstood the “don’t dilly dally” email and that his communications with Lanteigne and Ivezic are under interpretation. He was released from prison on bail and is currently under strict house arrest.

Arts & Culture

September 17, 2018 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca

Niamh Wilson talks about cinema and the city U of T student acts in Giant Little Ones, sees the other side of TIFF Niamh Wilson Varsity Contributor

As the summer winds down and patio season in Toronto nears its frigid end, the city is as busy as ever. Students return for their fall semester, Torontonians gather for some of the last warm days in the city, and celebrities arrive at Toronto Pearson International Airport because — right, TIFF is in town! How perfect that it also happens to coincide with the first week of classes! So, as I wait in line for Colette and think about the anthropology class I have to scramble off to when it’s over, I feel surprisingly calm. There’s a certain comfort in TIFF for me; not only am I lucky enough to be a student in this city, but I’ve also had the privilege of growing up in Toronto’s film industry. The festival marks the intersection of my professional life and my life as a Torontonian, and it’s an honour to be able to participate in it from both those standpoints. This year, I was lucky enough to be a part of the wonderful film Giant Little Ones, which had its world premiere at TIFF. It’s a story about the fluidity of adolescent sexuality and all the bumps and bruises that go along with it. In the days after its first screening, the response has been overwhelming and has reminded me — as is sometimes necessary — of exactly why I love working in film. From a Canadian actor’s standpoint — oh god, I know, another actor talking about their experience, barf — TIFF holds a near and dear spot in my heart. Growing up, I was always sort of aware of its existence, but I didn’t really understand the hype surround-

ing it. As I got older and was privileged enough to become more and more involved with the Festival, I realized just how important it was to me as a Canadian in the film industry, and how monumental it has been for spotlighting Canadian film. If you’ve lived in the city for a while, you know that TIFF brings with it a certain air of excitement and anticipation. Film lovers flood the streets in rush-ticket lines, and it feels like, for one time in the year, all eyes are on Toronto. From my perspective, TIFF is a cultural pillar of this city. People from all walks of life come together in a love for movies — or maybe just to sit in the same theatre as Ryan Gosling — and there’s a sense of unity here that’s more apparent than usual. The festival brings Toronto together, and as much as the rest of Canada likes to make fun of us for our city slicker ways, it’s hard to deny that TIFF is a big source of national pride. It puts a much needed emphasis on Canadian film and what it has to bring to the cinematic table. TIFF allows Canadian filmmakers to showcase their work on the platform that it deserves — alongside big Hollywood productions, which generally receive twice the funding and access to resources than we do here in Canada. The fact that Canadian films can hold their own against these big-budget movies speaks to the quality and dedication of the work and talent coming out of this country. TIFF is one of the few times a year that Canadian actors have the chance to reach decisionmakers first hand. More importantly, it gives us a chance to reach them on

The Predator

While not unbearable, Shane Black’s latest is ultimately too confused Arjun Kaul Varsity Contributor

The latest instalment in the Predator franchise, The Predator, is, above all, a film that made me feel tired. It’s fitting, at least, that Shane Black is the one behind the camera this time, having had a supporting role in the Schwarzenegger-starring 1987 original, though part of the problem here is that Black and Fred Dekker, his co-writer, seem to have thrown everything on their minds onto the wall to see what will stick.

Shane Black's The Predator stars Olivia Munn and Jacob Tremblay.

Courtesy of TIFF

The result is a movie that, while it has its strong points, ultimately feels rather uninteresting. The Predator is fairly effective in its immediate goal of, well, thrilling. But the final product is a film that is at once both formulaic and unrelentingly cynical. To Black’s credit, he gets the setup and

our own turf. If you know any actors, you know that the general consensus is that if they’re really serious about their career, they’ll eventually make their way down to Los Angeles to work. Even I have become prey to this framework. But what I love, and what I believe is so important about TIFF, is that it shows that Canadian talent holds the same kind of merit that so many actors worldwide are known for. It puts an emphasis on our work. It gives us a voice in our own home that can then be heard all over the world. Apart from what TIFF does for the Canadian film industry at large, we can’t forget what the festival is really all about: a genuine love for and celebration of film. The power that movies have to influence people’s lives always astonishes me. I know that sounds kitschy and fairly cliché, but think about

initial story right, delving into the lore behind the Predators’ species, culture, and internal politics — a term that is applied very loosely here, but still sort of fits. He explores interesting character dynamics, settling into a groove of doing what he does best: writing characters who are most entertaining while having casual conversation. Unfortunately, it’s mostly downhill from there. Black’s filmography is full of underrated films. The Nice Guys is wonderful, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in particular is incredibly charming. However, the key to his charm is his irreverence. The flippant, even rude conversations between his characters, plot-related or not, are the real centrepieces of his movies. It’s hard to explain, but watching actors rattle off Shane Black dialogue is often just really fun. His dialogue is how you wish you talked to people. The Predator, designed to be a franchise entry from the start, is anything but irreverent. The gonzo ridiculousness of the original Predator is slightly present, but the impact of the Marvel/ DC comic book movie industry is here too. Mixed with the earnestness of a franchise movie, one in which the focus is designed to be the plot and the fight scenes, Black’s irreverence just comes across as overbearing cynicism. The characters veer away from flippancy and more toward being genuinely unlikeable. This points to a broader problem within maledriven action filmmaking: the increasing popularity of confusing ‘damaged’ characters with wellrounded ones. Nobody is saying you can’t have both. But rather than rely on Black’s trademark dialogue to carry them through the movie, the characters of The Predator, alarmingly, use posttraumatic stress disorder as a crutch to explain both character motivations and personality traits.

IRIS DENG/THE VARSITY

the last movie that made you cry, or laugh hysterically, or even just made you question some small aspect of your life. We may not all be film lovers, but we’ve all definitely been touched by film in some way. TIFF has an amazing way of coming around each year and allowing us all to reconnect with and celebrate film. Moreover, it inspires people to keep creating, and that is what the festival is really all about: inspiring Canadians to keep making good art.

Sometimes this is played for laughs — which might be even worse — but this confusion of motivations is what makes The Predator seem cynical. Of course, not all characters have to be subversive, and sometimes it is nice to ‘turn one’s brain off ’ and watch a movie like The Predator. But being damaged is not a character trait, and characters who are defined by this trait — perhaps attempting to emulate the antihero-driven storytelling style of shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men, seem empty. The Predator was also notoriously marred by editing problems, and it certainly shows. At one point, several characters show up in an RV, but its procurement is never really explained. The same thing happens with a dog featured on screen, and certain characters change clothes a few times without explanation. The third act bears a general sense of incoherence: the dialogue doesn’t fit and it all seems rushed. It is fairly clear that even brilliant editing couldn’t have saved this movie. Black’s cynicism simply doesn’t mix with how formulaic the movie actually is. There are alluring moments in The Predator and it’s certainly not an unbearable movie. At some points, the action is genuinely fun, and the art direction and creature design often goes in fun and inventive directions: The Predator has hunting dogs now! But I found myself waiting through most of the fight scenes to get to the conversations or the next interesting tidbit of Predator backstory. Among other issues, The Predator is just too confused by its identities as both a franchise film and a Shane Black movie. Even if it gets some things right, it’s ultimately a slog.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 | 15

var.st/arts

Green Book It does just make you feel good Ryan Falconer Varsity Contributor

It’s not every year we get a Jim Crow‐era race drama directed by the guy who made Dumb and Dumber To. In fact, it’s never happened — Peter Farrelly, who has been writing and directing gross‐out comedies with his brother Bobby since 1994, graced a TIFF stage for the first time ever this year with his feel‐good drama Green Book. Based on a true story, the film follows Italian‐ American nightclub bouncer Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), who is hired by Jamaican‐ American virtuoso pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) as a driver/bodyguard/professional problem‐solver on his concert tour through the Deep South. It’s a generic and fairly predictable movie, but that doesn’t matter — everyone from the cast to the early reviewers to the uproarious TIFF audience seems to agree that there’s something special about this film, an undeniable charm which makes one feel like a heartless grouch for even noticing that, say, the cinematography is kind of bland. One reason for the warm reaction, I think, is that beneath Green Book’s slick and conventional exterior is a nuanced look at the instability of our cultural boundaries. Don is a Black American who can’t recognize singers like Chubby Checker on the radio, while the vaguely racist Tony joyously sings along with these Black icons. Conversely, Tony’s Italian family is seen arguing about whether it was Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo who painted the “Sixteen Chapel.”

These characters resist easy categorization. Tony, so disdainful toward Black characters at the beginning of the film, suddenly finds himself feeling inadequate in the face of Don’s imposing intelligence. Don, so condescending toward Tony in their first interactions, finds himself relying more and more on the impressive social skills of a man he once thought to be vulgar and impolite. The two characters constantly defy and exceed their cultural expectations of each other. Don says near the middle of the film, “You have a very narrow assessment of me, Tony.” “Yeah, right?” replies Tony, tapping his forehead to indicate a big brain — “I’m good!” The warmth and authenticity of Tony’s character was, for me, one of the most striking things about Green Book. I attribute this largely to Mortensen, who completely disappears into the role, and to the film’s script, which was written in part by Nick Vallelonga, the son of the real‐life Tony. Perhaps the character felt so real to me because he reminded me of my own family members. Though they’re Italians from Toronto, not the Bronx, and none of them had much to do with renowned Black musicians, the specificity and insight of certain moments in the film spoke truths about my loved ones, which I didn’t even know that I knew. There is a scene in which Don and Tony stop at a roadside stand, and Tony wanders to a display

of little jade stones for sale. He notices that one of the stones has fallen on the ground, now lying among rocks and dirt, and he pockets it. Don’s bandmate sees the whole thing, and when Tony returns to their car, Don demands that he return the stone or pay for it. Playfully, Tony insists he didn’t steal anything — he just picked up a rock from the ground. It’s lucky, he says, so he wants to keep it. Don simply can’t understand why Tony would want to steal something in this way. He tells Tony that if he wants it so badly, he should pay for it. Tony laughs — he doesn’t see why he should spend money on a rock. As I watched this scene, suddenly, Tony became my late grandfather. I remembered when, years ago, he bought a new TV and as soon as he came home with it, before even opening the box, he phoned the manufacturer to tell them the remote control wasn’t working. They mailed him another one, and he had a spare remote. I remembered that when he and my father were renovating our house some 15 years ago, they would often make trips to the hardware store to buy plywood, and my nonno would take great care to pile the wood on their cart in such a way that he could hide an extra two‐by‐four at the bottom and sneak it through the cash register without paying for it. My non‐Italian father, much like Don, never understood this — they didn’t need the extra

wood, and the money they saved by stealing was almost nothing, so why break the law? Why rip off the hardware store? It was like a game for my nonno — the money didn’t matter, the wood didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was getting away with something a little mischievous. There was a joy in subverting the rules, in scamming just a little more than he was owed. It was an end in itself. To see this mischievous part of my grandfather’s soul depicted so clearly onscreen made me appreciate my family in a way that few films have. It’s a small moment in a film that deals with many issues, but it rang true for me in such an immediate way that everything that followed was an absolute delight to watch. It’s rare for a film to make such a pointed, beautiful observation about a certain type of person. There are more such moments in Green Book, some of which I’m sure flew over my head but will resonate with other viewers. People tend to use ‘feel‐good movie’ as a pejorative, but this movie really does just make you feel good. It’s breezy and accessible, it has a lot of love for its characters, and it ultimately offers a message of hope in the face of prejudice. For some reason, that sort of thing isn’t so fashionable these days. But the 2,000 TIFF viewers who gave Green Book a standing ovation were having too good of a time to care.

Green Book, starring Viggo Mortensen (left) and Mahershala Ali (right), won the TIFF People’s Choice Award.

Courtesy of TIFF

Quincy

Putting the life back into the biopic — have you seen him like this?

Musician, producer, singer, and father — Quincy Jones is at the forefront of the coming Netflix documentary.

Courtesy of TIFF

Liam Bryant Varsity Contributor

Directors Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks promised their audience a simple glimpse into the life of prolific composer and music

producer Quincy Jones. Yet they went a step further and delivered an intimate biopic that follows the artist throughout his successful, turbulent, and storied career. Quincy Jones’ incredible professional achievements well encompass and surpass

the scope of this article, simply by virtue of him being the most successful music producer of all time — see: “Thriller,” “We Are the World,” and countless movie scores. Media has previously taken his life and acknowledged the impact it has had on him as a man. Quincy, however, has the key advantage of the unique perspective offered by its co-director Rashida Jones, daughter of Quincy Jones, resulting in a surprisingly tender and witty final product. Rashida Jones and Hicks parsed through over 800 hours of raw footage and 2,000 hours of extraneous B-roll over a period of eight years to compile the film. ‘Talking head’ interviews, a usual presence in documentaries, were replaced entirely by primary source audio files from Quincy Jones’ contemporaries such as Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, and even Frank Sinatra. The movie sails through its diligently synthesized stories and snippets, intermixing footage from Quincy Jones’ involvement with the 2016 opening production of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, DC. It is through this event, and others, that the life of Quincy Jones is shone through the

veneer of his experience as an African-American man navigating the music industry from the ’40s onward. Though Hicks did not intend originally to focus the movie through this lens, by the end of the film, Quincy Jones’ experience espouses the hardship and dedication during his five decades of perseverance through bigotry. The movie crowns his achievements in the opening of the NMAAHC, his contemporaries and industry successors joining him in celebrating not only his incredible work, but his life. Quincy Jones was never known for taking a breather; the hurried pace of his achievements and successes certainly reflect that. While its subject is known to be hard to keep up with, the film gives the viewer the time and cinematic space to understand and appreciate the gravity of his life without merely showing them a montage. Whether it’s enjoying one of the 3,000 songs playing throughout the film, its filmography, its storyline, or simply the infectious personality of Quincy Jones himself, Quincy is a must-see, and probably one of the most well-constructed biopics of 2018. Quincy will be released worldwide on Netflix on September 21.

16 | THE VARSITY | ARTS & CULTURE

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Asako I & II

Ryusuke Hamaguchi follows a protagonist struggling to participate in her own life Michelle Krasovitski Varsity Contributor

In his latest film, Asako I & II, Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi confronts us with a startling warning: change, or risk losing yourself in the world. The film follows the eponymous Asako (Erika Karata), a young, quiet woman, who immediately falls in love with Baku (Masahiro Higashide) upon leaving a photography exhibit in Osaka. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, Asako exits the exhibit, locks eyes with the mopheaded Baku, and kisses him amidst the loud pop of firecrackers set off by young kids. It’s a scene straight out of a romance movie. But Hamaguchi’s film is anything but — Asako I & II is a movie that is first and foremost concerned with demonstrating how chaotic personal stasis can be. The clash between Asako’s previous and cur-

rent lives is violent, though no punches are thrown and no blood is spilled. The violence comes in the form of decisions: where will Asako ground herself in order to choose her path? Asako behaves like a whirlwind: indecisive, nervous, compulsive. It is evident that she is disturbed by the task of making choices and participating in the progression of her own life, as opposed to being on the receiving end of the actions or decisions of others. Instead of going with the flow, she must now create it.

Adapted from Tomoka Shibasaki’s novel, Asako I & II tells the story of love through the genre of magical realism.

Courtesy of TIFF

Asako is suspended in time. The only indications that suggest the passage of time are her changing friends and the convenient title cards noting how many years have passed. Her best friends get married, become pregnant, move to Singapore, and return. Overall, they lead lives that show personal growth and progress. Apart from moving in with another character, Ryohei, Asako remains the same. It is unclear whether she works or whether she has any plans for the future. She is a difficult character to care about, let alone root for. Asako I & II is subtle in its messaging: instead of blatantly feeding the audience his warning — disguised in obnoxious allegories or through characters alive solely for the purpose of pedalling a motif — Hamaguchi offers us a slice of life. This simplistic approach is effective, though not without its downsides. The film willingly sacrifices a more dramatic, impactful story in lieu of portraying a very specific and relatively uneventful phase of a life. The viewer is offered no deep monologues or tearful soliloquies — rather, the film is concerned with painting a portrait of Asako, revealing all of her

flaws and shortcomings in the subtle details. We are tasked with the responsibility of deriving drama from mundane domesticity: going out to dinner with friends, washing up, volunteering at a fish market. Instead of a forceful confrontation, the movie is a subdued shrug. It’s a matter-of-fact whisper that, perhaps, dwelling on the past isn’t conducive to a meaningful life. There’s no gut-wrenching pangs nor call for tears at any point in the movie. In a personal introduction prior to the screening, Hamaguchi, through a translator, implored the audience to stay until the very end so as to listen to the song that plays during the credits. The song, produced by Japanese musician tofubeats, is a wonderful musical highlight in a movie that lacked a score for the majority of its runtime. Immediately before lively electronic beats accompany the movie’s fade out, Hamaguchi leaves his protagonist with an ambiguous ending. The audience is left with a movie that is poignant and careful in its characterizations and warnings. Ultimately though, it is too subdued and inconclusive to leave a profound and lasting impact.

Vox Lux

Brady Corbet’s musical drama explores domestic acts of violence, terrorism, and privacy rights Ann Marie Elpa Associate News Editor

At its TIFF premiere on September 7, Vox Lux received a great deal of praise from critics and plenty of exposure to the public. It had also premiered at the 75th annual Venice Film Festival, receiving a similarly positive reception. Directed by Brady Corbet and starring award-winning actors Natalie Portman and Jude Law, the films tells the story of a young girl, Celeste (Raffey Cassidy), who catapults to fame after surviving a mass shooting. Vox Lux presents itself almost as a mockumentary-type film, with its use of ’90s style videography and voiceovers by Willem Dafoe. Divided into three parts, the film portrays the progression of Celeste’s budding career and her own personal development from a naïve teenager to a careless adult. The first part, set in 1999, depicts a young Celeste and her older sister, Eleanor (Stacy Martin), who survive a traumatic school shooting. The girls decide to write a song about their feelings toward the event, which captures the attention of a manager ( Jude Law). Young Celeste and Eleanor savour their first taste of fame, travelling around central Europe and embarking on a music career. In the later parts of the film, which follow a 31-year-old Celeste (Natalie Portman), she is

now a careless pop star dealing with a plethora of scandals in both her public and personal lives. Celeste faces yet another act of violence in her life, with an act of terrorism using her image. The film successfully tackles this difficult subject matter by echoing real life events, such as the Columbine mass shooting in 1999, and provides a fresh, first-person perspective. It is at this point in the film that the audience notices the change in Celeste’s music style and image. They drastically shift from simple, teenybopper lyrics and bubblegum pop to an eclectic, edgy, and autotuned style, reflecting her troubles and overall downward spiral. It seems as if Celeste is meant to be a parallel to real-life teen pop stars — 2007 was not a good year for Britney Spears. In the end, the big question that the audience is left to contemplate is, “How much exposure is too much?”

Natalie Portman transcends the screen as a performative, provocative pop star in Vox Lux.

Courtesy of TIFF

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 | 17

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Wildlife

Overlooked – except this time a TIFF special

Arjun Kaul Varsity Contributor Unlike many of the other films that played at TIFF this year, Wildlife has been making the festival rounds since Sundance in January. Since then, it has received rapturous reviews, but nowhere near the level of praise that films like Roma and A Star Is Born are receiving. While I have not seen those films yet, Wildlife is certainly not to be underestimated. Though somewhat overlooked by the festival circuit, Wildlife is one of the best films of the year so far. Based on Richard Ford’s novel of the same name, the film is the directorial debut of Paul Dano. Having worked under directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson on There Will Be Blood, Denis Villeneuve on Prisoners, and Steve McQueen on 12 Years a Slave, Dano has seen incredible formalist filmmaking firsthand, and it shows in his work. His debut is assured and consistent, taking up a sombre, almost dread-filled emotional tone from the beginning and never wavering. The plot is astonishingly bare for a movie that’s an hour and 45 minutes long. In 1960, a family of three moves to Montana, seeking to improve their lives. As told through the eyes of 14-year-old Joe (Ed Oxenbould), his father ( Jake Gyllenhaal) encounters complications with his job. Each member of the family, most notably Jeanette (Carey Mulligan), Joe’s mother, must do what they can to survive, physically and emotionally. That’s it. While it has beats of both a coming-of-age drama and a deep tragedy, Wildlife is

ultimately a very simple drama, recounted with heartbreaking detail and craft. Working in the rich tradition of quiet Midwestern American dramas and taking influence from movies like Ordinary People and A River Runs Through It, Dano tells this story with remarkable self-assurance. The camera moves only when it needs to; the tightly controlled colour palette is made up of wonderfully muted pastel greys, greens, and blues; and Dano picks up on every smile, glance, and sigh that his actors give out. What may be most remarkable about Wildlife is its sense of empathy. This comes from the feminist lens through which Dano and Zoe Kazan, his partner and co-writer, view the film’s events. Jeanette, in addition to working and coping with the loss of her own dreams, must deal with both her husband moving away and her son growing older. A lesser film would present the actions that Jeanette takes to cope, and live with some hope of happiness as morally reprehensible, but Dano and Kazan understand not just what it means to live as a woman in a world dominated by men, but also what it means to live as a woman in a world dominated by feminine performativity. Wildlife is a sobering depiction of what it means to live under the American Dream, and what it takes away from you — it’s the empathy that Dano and Kazan lend the characters that makes this portrait so effective.

TIFF hosts Paul Dano's directorial debut Wildlife.

Courtesy of TIFF

The World War II drama stars Sarah Gadon and Martin Dubreuil.

Courtesy of TIFF

The Great Darkened Days Nothing flows naturally in Maxime Giroux’s latest effort

Michelle Krasovitski Varsity Contributor

The Great Darkened Days opens up with a The Great Dictator quote — initially delivered by Charlie Chaplin in the ’40s — now offered to us by Philippe, our main character, as he competes in a Chaplin impersonation competition. Phillipe is a draft-dodger and a Chaplin impersonator; he is from Montréal and he misses his

mother. This is all we learn about our protagonist during a film that spans over an hour and a half. Québécois director Maxime Giroux’s latest film is a lurid fever dream that attempts to explore — and ultimately condemn — capitalism and the American Dream. Giroux constructs a world where humans are sold as pets and considered a commodity; where well-dressed salesmen randomly show up in the middle of the desert peddling cigarettes; where the cars are from the ’50s, the clothes are from

the ’30s, and the music is from the ’90s. There is a war going on, we are told, but we don’t know which one. We don’t know where we are or what time period it is. All we are offered is a cast of bizarre characters acting out bizarre things. On a technical level, The Great Darkened Days is near flawless. Sara Mishara’s cinematography — shot in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio, the common ratio of film in the ’30s — captures Nevada’s snow-capped mountain ranges and dusty deserts beautifully. The score, arranged by Olivier Alary, is brooding and atmospheric, achieving a sense of ominous urgency that the plot and story ultimately do not deliver on. The performances are good as well, especially those by Sarah Gadon, who plays an evil woman, and Reda Kateb, who plays a sympathetic villain. Unfortunately, the film begins to falter 20 minutes in, when the audience begins to realize that the story will be nothing more than a collection of abstract tableaus and vignettes haphazardly sewn together, like in a cheap quilt. Some of the scenes come off as trying too hard to be disturbing, others as trying too hard to be profound — nothing flows naturally in Giroux’s effort. In the few moments that characters interact with one another, chemistry is all but absent. The message of capitalist powers overpowering and commodifying every aspect of our lives also comes off as tired and surface-level. Giroux doesn’t put much weight into his allegory. Nothing hits close to home, nothing feels personal. The Great Darkened Days lacks humanity. There is no bite, no nastiness, and no seduction in a movie that should have plenty of it all. In a Q&A session following my screening at TIFF, on the topic of abstract and absurd cinema, Giroux light-heartedly remarked that “everything has to be explained. I hate that.” Maybe it’s for the best that we don’t delve deeper into this effort.

18 | THE VARSITY | ARTS & CULTURE

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Manto

The soundtracks

The biographical film, set in Partition-era India, is a timely exploration of free speech, belonging, and truth, relevant to a global audience

My favourite four musical moments from this year’s movies Jarret Sorger Varsity Contributor

If you’ve been anywhere downtown in the last two weeks, you probably have noticed that TIFF season was upon us. Whether you’re interested in seeing the films, volunteering, or on the lookout for celebs, many U of T students find themselves involved. This year, I decided to up my own festival game, seeing 25 movies. Music is undoubtedly a key element to film, whether it is the score providing support for what’s on screen or a memorable soundtrack moment being forever tied to the scene in which it’s played. The broad range of films at TIFF have an array of musical moments, and I’ve created a small playlist to recognize some of the best that I’ve seen. Nawazuddin Siddiqui portrays Pakistani writer, playwright, and author Saadat Hasan Manto.

Courtesy of TIFF

Ibnul Chowdhury Comment Editor

When I discovered that Manto would have its North American premiere at TIFF, I knew that it would be nothing short of a profound viewing experience. The film features actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who always puts in unbelievably believable performances — and he does so again as the Urdu-language writer, Saadat Hasan Manto. It is the second feature film directed by Nandita Das, who has frequently played central roles in Indian stories with global resonance. Just as Das’ first feature film, Firaaq, tells the stories of the aftermath of the sectarian violence during the 2002 Gujarat riots, Manto brings us to the violence of Indian independence and Partition through the experiences of storywriter Manto. Free speech Manto’s literature focuses on prostitution. Throughout the film, his identity as a storywriter is defined by the challenges brought onto him by court. While his portrayal of women as strong, sexual, and resistant subjects is appreciated by some as demonstrating empathy toward women, he is accused in court of being obscene and antagonistic toward the moral standards of society, despite its tacit complicity in allowing access to prostitution. Manto’s position is simple: “If you cannot bear my stories, it is because we live in unbearable times.” Analyzing Manto’s battles in court is essential if we are to understand the importance of free speech and, crucially, its distinction from the contemporary ‘free speech’ movements that campuses across North America grapple with. The exercise of free speech does not occur in a vacuum; it cannot be

divorced from the social context and power relations in which it is produced. Manto’s humanization of women is a direct challenge to the conservative, colonial, and patriarchal society in which he exists. The state’s attempt to silence him is an abrogation of free speech, inhibiting societal progress and threatening stagnation. Meanwhile, today’s champions of free speech defend an oppressive order, and so, in claiming that they are being silenced, they fail to understand social context and power relations. Belonging In 1946, prior to Partition, Manto was an integral part of Bombay’s secular, progressive arts and literature scene. However, as Hindu-Muslim sectarian violence intensifies, he becomes increasingly conscious of his identity as a Muslim and feels compelled to move to Lahore, Pakistan, a safe space for Muslims. Manto leaves behind his cherished city, as well as the graves of his father, mother, and firstborn son. While one of Manto’s stories portrays the exchange of lunatics between India and Pakistan, it reveals that the real madness is in the Partition itself. After all, the artificial construction of borders, justified by the perceived difference between Hindus and Muslims, suddenly turns centuries-long neighbours against one another. Manto is Pakistani by virtue of being Muslim, and yet belongs more to the land known as India by virtue of his upbringing, family, and career. For Manto, the Partition of India causes a partition of his own self. When humanity comes second to identity, the result is inevitable: mass migration, genocide, and violence. The formation of rigid identities stands in contrast to the reality that we are so much more than any singular category; we are, in fact, multiple identities.

I am of Bangladeshi origin, which means that in a previous era, I would have been considered East Pakistani, and before that, Indian. The creation of these modern identities, for some, is a source of pride. To me, it is a constant othering that has haunted the Indian subcontinent for the last 71 years — I lost a grandfather due to the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war. As Islamic fundamentalism and Hindu nationalism play increasingly dangerous roles in South Asia, an ahistorical worship of artificial differences promises to reproduce the trauma of Partition, over and over again. The irony that India’s independence coincided with Partition problematizes the meaning of freedom — in Manto’s words, “Either everyone’s life matters, or no one’s does.” Identifying and seeking to rectify unequal power dynamics in the context of identity politics is not, in itself, identity politics — it is a rejection of colonialism. A film about truth Das’ film is about free speech and belonging but, fundamentally, it is about truth. She captures this by blurring the lines between the story of Manto, and Manto’s stories. Manto’s fiction was, in a sense, reality. It reflected his truth; it was what he saw in his society. Partition was based on a fiction that Hindus and Muslims are fundamentally different; the truth is that complex individuals should not be essentialized into one singular identity. Instead, we should be skeptical about simplistic narratives that define belonging. The role of intellectuals, journalists, and artists is to expose reality for what it is, especially when it challenges oppressive power structures. The truth is that nothing should come before our humanity.

Song: “Trying” by Bully Film: Her Smell

The TIFF film that’s stuck in my mind the most this year is Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell, in which Elisabeth Moss plays the frontwoman of ’90s all-female punk rock band Something She. Providing the music for the fictional band is Alicia Bognanno of the band Bully. The Nashville band has garnered acclaim for their music, which mixes an indie and punk rock sound with emotional rawness and directness. Something She has a few louder songs throughout the film, but they really stand out when Moss’ character Becky Something performs acoustically; the lyrics and arrangements really show Bognanno’s and Moss’ talents. Bully’s song “Trying,” from their 2015 album Feels Like, is a good mix of both.

Song: “Windowlicker” by Aphex Twin Film: Climax

Gaspar Noé’s film is about a French dance troupe in the mid-1990s, who get together to rehearse and then party. But when a bowl of sangria that the group has been drinking from throughout the entire night turns out to have been spiked, the night quickly descends into paranoia, despair, and a show of humans at their lowest. Before that happens, however, the film is a joyous showcase of people expressing themselves in the way they know best, through dance. The movie is scored by an

assortment of French house songs, which play almost constantly throughout the film. One of the most recognizable songs is intelligent dance music classic “Windowlicker,” by electronic musician Aphex Twin. In this sequence, we see the film’s main character, played by Sofia Boutella, stumble through hallways, affected by whatever was in the sangria. The song is quintessentially weird, and its bizarre rhythms fit perfectly with Boutella’s physical performance.

Song: “Chandelier” by Sia Film: Vox Lux

One of the joys of heavy TIFFgoing is being able to see the many filmmakers’ different views on contemporary life, and Brady Corbet’s Vox Lux feels like the most modern and reflective of the current world. The film touches on school shootings, pop stardom, media image, a loss of innocence in culture, internet terrorist groups, and art’s relation to trauma. The film features a bizarre pairing behind its music: pop star turned experimental artist Scott Walker, and indie pop singer turned pop star Sia. Sia’s “Chandelier” is a song that well represents the chaos and catharsis in the film and has already cemented itself as one of the best pop hits of the decade.

Song: “The Shallow” by Lady Gaga Film: A Star Is Born

Arguably, no film has dominated TIFF conversation as much as Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born remake. Having two major celebrities both take on different jobs from what they are known for in a big-budget and ambitious film is exciting. The film boasts a great trailer, but there are 27 seconds of it that stand out from the rest. I will admit that I did not see this film, and the song featured has not been released yet, but it is worth noting as possibly the defining song of the festival. Immediately, the viewer is struck by Lady Gaga’s vocals, which are more emotional than most songs or movies this year, without even using words. The song has become somewhat of a Twitter meme, and it shows how it has captured people’s hearts before, during, and presumably after the festival. We’re far from the shallows now.

Science

September 17, 2018 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca

RealAtoms reinvents the molecular model kit

Founders Ulrich Fekl and Joshua Moscattini aspire to create a new standard for chemistry model kits Harsimran Garcha Varsity Contributor

Around this time of year, students purchase molecular model kits from the bookstore. These kits come with parts to create ball-and-stick models, but they are rigid and rather unreflective of the dynamic reactions taught in courses like organic chemistry. “You have a visual picture of atoms shuffling around, and it’s very hard to communicate it in undergraduate classes,” says Professor Ulrich Fekl of UTM’s Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences. For instance, in existing model kits, the carbon atom can only form four bonds, and the models are unable to show chemical reactions and intermediates. As such, teaching reactions and mechanisms becomes difficult for instructors, who could resort to animations and videos, but this approach lacks a tactile experience. This lack of flexibility is what inspired Fekl and U of T alum Joshua Moscattini to found RealAtoms. “I always have this mental picture of atoms rearranging and it’s really, really smooth, and there is something enjoyable and memorable about touching models,” says Fekl. But “rearranging and the tactile experience don’t mesh with the existing kits.” RealAtoms is a dynamic molecular model kit

RealAtoms is the first reaction modelling kit of its kind.

Courtesy of ULRICH FEKL

developed with the goal of being able to model and visualize organic and inorganic chemistry reactions, including their intermediates. The kit comes with 12 hydrogens, six carbons, one nitrogen, and two oxygens. The carbons, nitrogen, and oxygens all have the same composition and can be used interchangeably. “We call it the molecular reaction kit,” says Fekl. Fekl developed prototypes of the molecular kit with support from his department, its Chair Claudiu Gradinaru, as well as the Impact Centre. Moscattini, who is a sessional instructor at U of T and Professor at Seneca College, used his ten years of design experience to help develop RealAtoms using 3D Design. With RealAtoms there are more possibilities. SN2 reactions can be observed in the hands of the user. The atoms of this kit are capable of showing the entire process from a nucleophilic attack, a five-coordinate carbon representing the intermediate, and finally the exit of the leaving group. The Walden inversion — the conversion of a molecule from one enantiomer to another — cannot be

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

Science Literacy Week returns for its fifth consecutive year This year’s theme is “A Space Odyssey” Christina Ditlof Varsity Contributor

Science Literacy Week is returning this year for its fifth anniversary and will take place from Monday, September 17 to Sunday, September 23. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Council has partnered with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to kick off this year's celebration of science and to highlight

space exploration. CSA astronaut David SaintJacques and his colleagues are set to launch on the International Space Station this December. “More than anything this year I want people to see Science Literacy Week as a chance to get out and experience science in a new light,” wrote Science Literacy Week Founder and U of T alum Jesse Hildebrand. “Not as lectures or fact and figures to be memorized, but as an entrancing way of looking

demonstrated using current model kits, but can be done with RealAtoms with ease. The kit can also be used for inorganic studies. The atoms in the kit are also able to form transition metal complexes and show square planar and octahedral geometries, and can be used to create lattice structures, and organic and inorganic molecules. Unlike typical ball-and-stick models, parts in the RealAtoms kit contain magnets enclosed in ABS plastic. According to Fekl, magnetic model kits can already be purchased, but the magnets in the kits don’t contribute to their function. The magnets used in RealAtoms are functional and allow users to quickly assemble and change a molecule’s geometry. The model kit also allows users to feel the resistance when rotating bonds. The model clearly shows that the single bonds of sp3 hybridized carbons can freely roate, while the double bonds of sp2 hybridized carbons, which cannot rotate. To form molecules with double or triple bonds, traditional ball-and-stick models would require com-

pletely different sticks to form them. The molecule must also be taken apart in order to transition between the different geometries. However, the atoms in the RealAtoms model kit contain plane surfaces along with concave and convex surfaces. These surfaces, contributed by Moscattini, lock in the orientation of a molecule to prevent rotation around the double bond. Fekl and Moscattini hope to create a new standard for organic and inorganic model kits. The model kit became commercially available for the first time at the 2018 Canadian National Exhibition. Moscattini delivered a pitch that won the Kids Technology Pitch Competition. It is also currently being used in a study at Seneca College to investigate the benefits of model kits in chemistry education. “The overall goal, I think, is for this to be the new standard in terms of organic model kits and inorganic kits,” says Moscattini. “We’re aiming for that, to have it in classrooms across Canada and the rest of North America.”

at the world.” Platforms such as Science Literacy Week provide the opportunity for Canadians, experts and non-experts alike, to delve into science through a variety of creative outlets. The nationwide celebration appeals to a wide variety of subject interests within science, suitable for all ages. Science Literacy Week was founded by Hildebrand with the goal of uniting science enthusiasts from across Canada to spread awareness about scientific breakthroughs, history, and literature through organized events. Last year, there were over 800 events that occurred in 100 cities across Canada. Although this year will focus on astronomical activities, there will be hundreds of other events being offered that will make you feel grounded. From making slime, understanding robotics, learning how to code, public talks, and science themed scavenger hunts, Science Literacy Week has got it all. “Whether it’s peering into a microscope to see a thousand little creatures, hearing a talk that explains things in a way that finally makes sense or staring at the stars and marvelling at the immensity of the Cosmos, Science Literacy Week has something to inspire absolutely everyone with the magic and wonder of science,” wrote Hildebrand. Here are some of this year’s notable events around U of T:

at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Library to display a planetarium in 30-minute sessions. Date: Monday, September 17 Time: 12:00–5:00 pm Location: OISE Library, 252 Bloor Street West Admission: Free

Makerspace Display Come to the UTSC Library to learn about the technologies used to make objects and make your own space-themed button. Date: Monday, September 17 Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Location: UTSC Library, 1265 Military Trail Admission: Free Explore the Universe in the ROM’s Travelling Planetarium Staff from the Royal Ontario Museum will be

Interactive Demos with the J. Tuzo Wilson Club The J. Tuzo Wilson Geology Club will be demonstrating minerals under the microscope, how meteorites are tested, and more. Date: Monday, September 17 to Friday, September 21 Time: 1:00–3:00 pm Location: UTM Library, 1867 Inner Circle Road Admission: Free Interactive Geologic Time with Fossil Samples UTM PhD student Katie Maloney will give insight into a geologist’s work and display some of UTM’s fossil collection. Maloney will also share how fossils are preserved and analyzed. Date: Wednesday, September 19 Time: 12:00–1:00 pm Location: Davis Building, 1867 Inner Circle Road, Room 2062 Admission: Free From Euclid to Einstein: Milestones in the History of Science This event is a self-guided tour of over 30 iconic scientific works of literature that have shaped the way science has evolved over the centuries. Works will include a Latin manuscript of Euclid’s Elements, dating back to the fourteenth century, and Copernicus’ work on planetary motion from the sixteenth century. Date: Thursday, September 20 Time: 4:00–7:00 pm Location: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, 120 St. George Street Admission: Free

20 | THE VARSITY | SCIENCE

Insulin may ward off infections

University Health Network researchers find insulin could play a role in the immune system Ashima Kaura Varsity Contributor

It was Frederick Banting’s co-discovery of how to extract insulin in the early 1920s at U of T that continues to save millions of lives across the globe, providing hope to patients suffering from diabetes who, in previous years, had none.

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

Computer Science departments welcome five new faculty members U of T hopes to advance robotics research Shruti Misra Varsity Contributor

Five new faculty members were appointed to U of T's Computer Science departments for the 2018– 2019 academic year, as the university moves to increase its commitment to computer science research, particularly in robotics. The researchers come from a variety of backgrounds and have diverse research interests that encompass fields like robotics, machine learning, human-robot interaction, and parallel algorithms.

Dr. Animesh Garg, one of the new Assistant

Professors in the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at UTM, was previously a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. In an email interview with The Varsity, Garg wrote that he chose to accept a position at U of T in part because of collaborations with industry leaders such as Google, NVIDIA, and Uber. “The opportunity to work in such a dynamic environment composed of academic leaders, industrial partners and most of all inspiring students made for a great combination for a young academic such as myself to establish a thriving research lab,” continued Garg. His research focuses on the fields of generalizable autonomy for robotics and “involves an integration of perception, machine learning and control in the real world.”

Dr. Maryam Mehri Dehnavi, a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer

science@thevarsity.ca For Dr. Sue Tsai and Dr. Dan Winer at the University Health Network (UHN), insulin is the gift that keeps on giving. “In [our] field a lot of people are looking at how obesity causes inflammation,” said Tsai. “But no one really knows it affects the immune system when it comes to infectious diseases, or cancer, because so many things are altered [and] your hormones are all dysregulated.” Insulin’s role in diabetes is well-researched, but little is known about the role it has in regulating T cell function and what leads T cells to stop responding to insulin. Tsai wanted to determine what factors cause obese individuals to have a reduced response to vaccinations, develop more infections, and be more likely to develop cancer. They narrowed their target to insulin, because individuals become resistant to it when they become obese. Tsai, a postdoctoral fellow at UHN, and Winer, an Assistant Professor in U of T's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, have uncovered an insulin signalling pathway that elicits a response from infection-fighting T cells when they are activated. Insulin, a pancreatic hormone, promotes glucose uptake via downstream signalling pathways. These pathways involve the binding of the insulin hormone to an insulin receptor (INSR). Immune cells, such as B cells and T cells, that protect the body against infection also possess this receptor. Tsai and Winer hypothesized that the binding of this receptor would stimulate T cell activation and proliferation, leading to a strong and immediate immune response.

In their study, Tsai and her colleagues compared T cell function in mice without the INSR to those with the receptor. “We found that T cells [without INSR] become less functional, and when we give the mice influenza [H1N1], they do worse,” explained Tsai. “They lose more weight and then they have a weaker immune response against the influenza.” INSR played an integral role in maximizing the potential function of the T cells in mice by increasing their nutrient uptake and in turn generating energy through ATP production during inflammation and infection. The researchers’ findings provide some reasoning as to why vaccines in obese individuals may not be as effective. Many obese individuals are insulin-resistant and, as shown in this study, could therefore have a weaker T cell response. T cells are integral to the efficacy of a vaccine, as they recruit infection-fighting antibodies and aid in immunological memory. Tsai hopes to continue exploring the link between insulin and immunity, and is currently investigating insulin signalling in B cells. She believes the findings of these studies could have wide-ranging applications. “The most obvious thing is influenza vaccines. How can we develop a vaccine, and what additional signals can we add to the vaccine to get them to work better in individuals who are insulin resistant?” said Tsai. “Also, tumour immunotherapies. Do obese people respond to these therapies differently than non-obese people and does insulin resistance play a role in that?” In the future, the insulin signaling pathway could also be used to study and find ways to ‘boost’ the immune system and develop vaccines that would work more effectively in obese individuals. Tsai’s findings were published in Cell Metabolism last month, almost a century after the discovery of insulin.

Science hailing from Rutgers University, wrote in an email to The Varsity that she was drawn to U of T because of its stellar academic environment and the city. Dehnavi also pointed to the department’s focus beyond “just current trendy areas” and its investment in long-term research. “We aim to significantly improve the performance of large-scale data-intensive problems on parallel and cloud computing platforms by building high-performance frameworks,: said Dehnavi on her research. “To build these frameworks we formulate scalable mathematical methods and develop domain-specific compilers and programming languages.”

abstractions and representations from large sources of unsupervised visual data,” said Shkurti.

Dr. Joseph Jay Williams is also a new

Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, previously from the National University of Singapore. In an interview with The Varsity, he said that he is excited to join U of T due to the unique position he was offered in doing research that “applies computer science techniques to educational research.” In particular, Williams is excited to work on cross-disciplinary collaborations, such as with the Department of Psychology and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Williams’ research focuses on creating “intelligent self-improving systems that conduct dynamic experiments to discover how to optimize and personalize technology, helping people learn new concepts and change habitual behavior.” In the future, Williams hopes to conduct randomized A/B experiments with practical applications in health and education.

Dr. Jessica Burgner-Kahrs from Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany will join the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at UTM as an Associate Professor. According to Burgner-Kahrs, her research interests are in robotics, particularly in small-scale continuum robotics and human-robot interactions. She will be joining the faculty in Spring 2019.

Through its appointment of research-focused faculty, the university hopes to expand its research frontiers in computer science beyond traditional areas.

Emily Deibert Varsity Contributor

International Aboriginal and Indigenous Peoples Inventors and Innovators Museum In this mobile museum, you’ll get the chance to learn about scientific contributions from Aboriginal and Indigenous Peoples across the world. Date: Monday, September 17 Time: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Location: UTSC Library, 1265 Military Trail, Makerspace Admission: Free UTM’s Amazing Astronomy/ Space Achievements From the Apollo moon missions to the first discovery of a black hole, UTM has played an important role in modern astronomy. Professor Emeritus John Percy will highlight these many achievements. Date: Monday, September 17 Time: 12:00–1:00 pm Location: UTM Library, 3359 Mississauga Road, Classroom B Admission: Free The Human Body Lab Tour During this lab tour you will get the chance to view real cadavers and anatomical models used for scientific research. This event is 18+. Date: Wednesday, September 19 Time: 12:00–1:00 pm and 1:00– 2:00 pm Location: Humber College North Campus, 205 Humber College Boulevard, Room F411 Admission: Free with registration Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon The Toronto Science Policy Network will be hosting an event to add and update Wikipedia pages for Canadian scientists, with a focus on women and members of marginalized groups. No experience is required to attend. Date: Saturday, September 22 Time: 12:00–5:00 pm Location: Inforum Library, 14 St. George Street Admission: Free with registration Soapbox Science 2018 Toronto In association with the Word on the Street Festival, this event will see a public area transformed into a platform for scientific learning with a focus on women in science — including five from U of T — and their research.

Dr. Florian Shkurti

will be an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at UTM coming from McGill University. Shkurti was drawn to U of T due to its “longstanding tradition of excellence” in areas like robotics, machine learning, computer vision, and various engineering subfields. One of Shkurti's research projects works on robot control systems that enable robots to work alongside scientists to explore underwater environments. “In the future, I am planning to dedicate my research efforts to creating algorithms that learn useful

Science Around Town

The new professors will diversify computer science research.

CC FLICKR

Date: Sunday, September 23 Time: 12:00–3:00 pm Location: Word on the Street Festival, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West Admission: Free

Sports

September 17, 2018 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

On the come-up: Erin Kelly on taking second-year by storm The Blues striker is focused on finding the back of the net Erin Kelly stares intensely at the ball. MARTIN BAZYL/Courtesy of the VARSITY BLUES

Laura Ashwood Varsity Contributor

Amidst the bustle of a Kensington diner, second-year Varsity Blues striker Erin Kelly scans the menu intently. She hums and haws and finally settles for the huevos rancheros, at the hasty recommendation of an impatient waitress. After placing our order, Kelly stares across at me with apprehension, her fingers interlaced tightly. She can stall no longer. She smiles nervously and fidgets in her chair. It’s obvious that she’s not in her element. “I can just start talking?” she asks. The same cannot be said for when she’s on the field. After outplaying even the boys’ team in her hometown of Pembroke, Ontario, Kelly began making hour-long treks to nearby Ottawa in middle school to play striker on elite club teams, where she started every game and scored in most. A healthy dose of natural talent set her apart from her small-town crowd: clocking in at a whopping six foot two inches and boasting a naturally-athletic build, some would chalk up Kelly’s success on the field exclusively to winning the genetic lottery, but those who know her would disagree.

Erin Kelly catches a small fish. Courtesy of ERIN KELLY

“When you make that pass up top to her, you trust that she’ll get the job done, which she always seems to do!” says Blues goalkeeper Vanessa Staggolis. “She brings all of the characteristics one would need in a striker — tall, quick feet, technical, and the courage to take shots.” Captain and fellow striker Chelsea Cheung adds that Kelly’s “athleticism and willingness to work are two of her greatest strengths [and] now in her second year, Erin has not only her strength and work ethic, but now experience to help her play a bigger role on the team.” Many would say that it is Kelly’s ability to ‘see’ the field in terms of plays and a team in terms of indi-

vidual strengths — what her forward counterpart Natasha Klasios calls having a “soccer brain” — that makes her stand out. This ability to predict and analyze behaviours extends into her life off of the field: Kelly intends to major in Cognitive Science or Psychology, explaining simply that she “likes to understand people.” “Personalities can definitely play a big role, and the first thing I think of… is [with] coaching staff too, and how you get along with coaches and your relationship with coach and player.” Teammates appreciate her ability to predict their plays as well. “She… makes everyone around her feel ten times more comfortable, which is critical in the game of soccer,” says Staggolis. However, Kelly admits that it was this same analytical perspective that held her back in her rookie season. “In the home opener last year, I hit a crossbar. And I think that’s the closest I ever got [to scoring], because I wasn’t in my head. I wasn’t overthinking it,” she recalls. From there, she says the pressures of starting on a varsity team as a rookie, combined with her tendency to overthink, started to get the best of her. “I think I lost sight a little bit of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, and got caught up in expectations for myself, imposed by myself,” she reflects. This year, Kelly has discovered that this intrinsic pressure to prove herself, a reflexive mentality that has stayed with her from the beginning of her athletic career as a young soccer star on the boys’ team, doesn’t always have to be a source of anxiety. “I had to prove myself just because I was a girl,” she admits. “And of course, the transition to elite soccer in Ottawa and then again to the OUA [Ontario University Athletics] with the Blues, gives me constant reminders that there’s really good women’s soccer being played out there, and to strive to improve every day.” Kelly is intent on using her previous source of anxiety as a source of strength and motivation. This shift in perspective is what she believes will keep her on an upwards trajectory throughout her second year of varsity sports, and toward scoring her first goal for the Blues. “I never went in with a cando attitude and I was hoping for the best, instead of expecting the best of myself… That is different this year.” Anyone watching closely enough would concur. With plenty of chances in the Blues home opener against Trent, Kelly seems closer than ever to her debut varsity goal. It all seems to boil down to an epic leap in confidence and an improved understanding of her place on the field. Though with a positional counterpart like Natasha Klasios, who ranked ninth in the OUA league with nine goals in 2017 and represented Canada at the

2017 Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) Summer Universiade in Taipei, it’s understandable why Kelly was self-conscious as a rookie. “When I joined the program I had heard a lot about Tash,” she admits, “but she actually wasn’t there when I started because she was competing at the FISU Games.” This ultimately worked to Kelly’s advantage because she got invaluable time on the field as a rookie, allowing her to find her footing as a striker on the Blues. This year, she intends on working on her partnership with Klasios. “We are trying to work as a pair to create chances for each other,” says Kelly. Klasios agrees. “We are definitely continuing to get in sync with one another… As we link up more in future games, hopefully she’ll be feeding me the ball behind the lines and also the reverse — me playing Erin in behind the lines.” Kelly is also confident that this partnership will be fruitful, saying that Klasios is “a great person to learn from.” Despite heaps of drive and natural talent, Kelly is quick to attribute the support from her teammates and coaches for her improvements — especially the older girls on the team. For example, Kelly spoke very highly of Cheung: “She’s a

great leader to the entire group, and especially because we do have a lot of younger players this year, so that’s important.” In general, Kelly seems to be constantly seeking ways to improve her game and to become an even more powerful asset to the team. “It’s good to learn from [the older girls], so I have the foresight to see how quickly the time can pass and what I can do in that time,” she says. By constantly improving, Kelly has high hopes for herself and for her team. When I ask if she thinks that the Blues can make it to the OUA quarterfinals this year, she smiles confidently. “Our captains Julia, Tash, and Chelsea are all leading us in the direction we need to go to. The thing is, once you get yourself into the playoffs, anything can happen. It’s about getting there.” And of course, there’s the ever-pressing issue of scoring her first Varsity Blues goal. “I have more confidence and I know what I’m capable of, and I’m hungrier,” says Kelly. Fair warning to the other teams.

Erin Kelly attempts to regain possession.

MARTIN BAZYL/Courtesy of the VARSITY BLUES

22 | THE VARSITY | SPORTS

sports@thevarsity.ca

Blues women’s lacrosse earn unbeaten home weekend Blues trounce York Lions 21–4, draw Trent Excalibur 10–10 Daniel Samuel Sports Editor

The Varsity Blues women’s lacrosse team (WLAX) played its lone homestand of the season, as Varsity Stadium played host to several Ontario University Athletics WLAX matches on September 15. The Blues entered the weekend tied for fourth place in the OUA with a 1–1 record, after opening the season with a 14–8 loss against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks and a 6–2 victory over the Guelph Gryphons. Toronto easily dominated York in every area of the game to earn a commanding 21–4 victory. Despite the early 8:30 am start time,

the late summer humidity was felt from the opening faceoff. The Blues started the match with eight unanswered goals. Attacker Sarah Morgan played a vital role in the Blues offense, coordinating attacking plays from the right wing. Brynne Yarranton and Mary Frost each scored five goals to lead Toronto. York attacker Sonya Mwambu was the lone bright spot for the Lions, using her tremendous speed to penetrate Toronto’s defense. The heat and humidity only got higher ahead of Toronto’s second game of the day. Players from the Queen’s Gaels and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks attempted to beat the heat and relax

Blues Heather McDougall looks to find an open teammate.

SEYRAN MAMMADOV/Courtesy of THE VARSITY BLUES

Lauren Li attempts to defend a York Lions attacker.

RUILIN FU/THE VARSITY

between matches by taking naps on the concourse, an effective barricade from the sun. Toronto’s match against the Trent Excalibur was an intense showdown featuring two sides unable to break away from each other, ultimately ending in a 10–10 tie. Trent opened the scoring two minutes into the match and Yarranton promptly answered back for the Blues. After a strong performance against York, Blues goalie Sierra Watkins had a rough first half as Trent mounted pressure and used cutters to create space in front of Toronto’s goal. Watkins looked more confident in the sec-

ond half, as the Excalibur fired a flurry of shots toward goal. Yarranton picked up where she left off against York, netting another five goal performance. Fellow attacker Heather McDougall added four goals for Toronto, and Frost rounded out the scoring with one goal. Fans, including players from the Blues men’s lacrosse team, stood and cheered during the dramatic final two minutes of the match. Trent pressed forward and Watkins stopped a shot from point blank range. After possession changed, Yarranton ran toward goal, swerving between

defenders and firing a low shot into the far corner to level the score at 10–10. The play prompted a member of the male lacrosse team to exclaim, “Why aren’t any of our games this exciting?” Trent committed a foul near their crease, providing the Blues with a prime chance to take the lead. But Toronto’s shot from close range fell just wide of the far post. The Blues were able to regain possession but unfortunately, as their attackers circled the Excalibur goal and fans eagerly anticipated a game-winner, time expired for the Blues.

Ravens defeat unconvincing Blues 3–0 Defeat exposes men’s soccer team’s ineffective attack Michael Teoh Varsity Staff

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s soccer team and their previous two opponents — the Carleton Ravens and the Ryerson Rams — have consolidated the top three Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division places in each of the past two seasons. Judging from early results around the league, this three-horse race will likely remain intact for the season ahead, but the 3–0 defeat to the Ravens on September 8, one week after suffering a 3–1 loss to the Rams, means that the Blues may need to settle for third best. The Blues made four changes to their starting lineup from their previous game, with starting striker Jack Wadden out injured and first-choice goalkeeper Stefan Dusciuc relegated to the bench in favour of first-year Sebastian Sgarbossa, who is making his first OUA start for Toronto. Unlike their previous four games, the Blues started slowly, unwilling to commit players forward in their trademark pressing style. Instead, they found themselves sweating in the opening 40 seconds, as poor defending from the usually reliable centreback and captain Nikola Stakic forced Sgarbossa to make a key save.

Carleton, who began the game with a perfect record and who had topped the division in 2017 with 13 wins out of 16 matches, continued to dominate proceedings, sending a number of dangerous balls into the attacking third. Their attacking play would pay off in the seventh minute, as forward Gabriel Bitar won a penalty after dribbling through the Blues’ defensive line. Bitar dispatched his spot kick straight down the middle, marking the first time this season that the Blues did not open the scoring. Seconds after kickoff, Stakic gave away possession with a poor forward ball that Carleton quickly passed to left winger Emad Houache, who released a defense-splitting peach of a ball to the other flank. Poor positioning from the Blues allowed right winger Ricky Comba to centre to striker Jimi Aribido, who smashed the ball past Sgarbossa. Already trailing, Toronto were still unable to move the ball forward, owing to Carleton’s incessant pressing and proficient tackling. The Ravens continued to threaten in attack, forcing the Blues to camp inside their own half. Carleton’s attacking organization repeatedly bypassed an inattentive backline, and they could easily have scored one or two more goals in the first half.

Counterattacking opportunities for the Blues were far and few between, and lone striker Jae Jin Lee, positioned at the halfway line, lacked the pace and ball control to trouble Carleton. The Blues’ best chance would come in the 40th minute as second-year midfielder Anthony Sousa found himself in a pocket of space 20 yards away from the goal and unleashed a powerful shot that rattled the crossbar. Toronto grew into the match in the second half and operated with more attacking freedom, as Carleton stopped pressing intently, happy to sit back and absorb attacks. The Blues’ most exciting moment came in the 57th minute as Sousa displayed smart ball control and managed a neat Cruyff turn to pass the ball beyond three surrounding Ravens players, but, like most of their forays, the attack fizzled out harmlessly. In the 71st minute, Carleton forward Dario Conte sliced the ball across the field, splitting Toronto’s defense yet again and allowing substitute Stefan Karajovanovic to easily chip the onrushing Sgarbossa and make the score 3–0. Karajovanovic almost scored again in the 77th minute

Blues midfielder Yousef Helmy attempts to gain possesion.

HENRY ZHAO/Courtesy of the VARSITY BLUES

after intercepting a terrible pass from fourth-year defender Kenny Lioutas, but he blazed the shot wide of the net. This second consecutive defeat for the Blues emphasized their ineffective attack and lack of ideas against teams

with strong, organized defenses. The Blues will hope that Wadden returns from injury sooner rather than later to provide a much-needed pressing and positioning-based dimension in their attacks.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 | 23

var.st/sports

Donald Trump has sparked a civil war within the NFL’s fanbase Colin Kaepernick first knelt during the anthem in 2016

BASEBALL

MEN’S September 15

Abby Lessard Varsity Contributor

With more fans than any other collegiate or professional sport, the NFL boasts the highest league revenues as well as the most lucrative television deal in the world. Yet in recent years, the NFL and its players have been bombarded with controversy, which has served to polarize the league’s fan base. Players choosing to kneel during the national anthem — and the assorted policy and procedural changes that the NFL adopted to address these player actions — continue to be an ongoing issue, even with the 2018 season kickoff. Nike’s latest “Just Do It” ad campaign, featuring the leader and face of the movement, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, has only served to heighten the debate surrounding the issue. Kaepernick first popularized the controversial act of kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to highlight racial injustice in the United States. In May 2018, NFL owners finally responded by voting in favour of requiring players to stand during the anthem and threatened to fine teams if players took a knee or weren’t on the field during the national anthem. As Kaepernick’s social movement has gained momentum, notable individuals like US President Donald Trump have criticized it. Like most critics, Trump believes that kneeling during the anthem is unpatriotic and disrespectful to the men and women who serve in the military. Proponents continue to respond to this point of view by asserting that when athletes take a knee, they are simply practicing their right to free speech. After the NFL Players Association filed a complaint, Adam Schefter, ESPN’s lead NFL correspondent, reported, “the new policy is going to be no policy,” later explaining that “too many people

WEEKLY BOX SCORES

7–4 9–6

Varsity Blues

September 16

4–3 9–1

Varsity Blues

September 22

Varsity Blues Varsity Blues

September 23

Varsity Blues Varsity Blues

Guelph Gryphons Guelph Gryphons

@ @

Western Mustangs Western Mustangs

FIELD HOCKEY September 15 Donald Trump greets New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

have stances too strong to figure out a compromise.” In July, the NFL ultimately decided not to implement the new policy detailing player behaviour during the national anthem and teams sanctions. By hitting the pause button on their policy, the NFL has recognized that the issue of kneeling during the national anthem is simply too contentious; therefore, the safest course of action is simply to do nothing. The NFL’s inaction has resulted in a barrage of criticism from Trump. After the first week, the US President continued his social media barrage against the league, tweeting that television ratings for the first game were down from those of last year and “viewership has declined 13%, the lowest in over a decade.” While Trump would like there to be a link between the NFL’s declining television ratings and players kneeling during the national anthem, the truth is that ratings have been declining for the past couple of years, which is consistent with broader viewership trends across the country. At the same time, the number of players that have decided to overtly protest has also declined, which further

discounts Trump’s assertion that kneeling has resulted in lower television ratings. And while Trump has been extremely vocal about his views regarding this topic, other public figures within the NFL have verbalized their support for the social movement. Detroit Lions principal owner Martha Ford openly challenged his assessment of the situation, saying that “players’ right to express views is part of what makes America great” and that “negative disrespectful comments suggesting otherwise are contrary to the founding principles of our country.” Even though Kaepernick is no longer in the league, he continues to support players taking a knee to protest racial injustices in the United States and has found a new advocate in Nike. While not all consumers have responded positively to Nike’s new campaign and some have even taken to burning Nike products, the company has seen a 31 per cent increase in sales since the campaign’s launch. Regardless of one’s stance on the issue, Kaepernick’s message has served to inspire not only NFL owners, players, and fans, but also positively impacted society as a whole.

6–0 @ Waterloo

Varsity Blues

THE WHITE HOUSE/CC WIKIMEDIA

September 16 Varsity Blues

McGill Martlets

4–1 @ York University

Queen’s Gaels

September 22

Varsity Blues

Western Mustangs

September 23

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@ @ Guelph

Guelph Gryphons Waterloo Warriors

FOOTBALL September 15

37–3 Varsity Blues

McMaster Marauders

September 22

Carleton Ravens

Varsity Blues

LACROSSE MEN’S September 22 September 23

Laurier Golden Hawks Western Mustangs

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WOMEN’S September 15

21–4 Varsity Blues

York Lions

10–10

September 23

Under Armour comes to U of T

Varsity Blues Varsity Blues

Trent Excalibur

@ Queen's Gaels Peterborough UOIT Ridgebacks @ Peterborough

SOCCER MEN’S

#WillFindsAWay meets the #6ix After the announcement that Under Armour would be the new athletics apparel partner and sponsor for the Varsity Blues in late May, the hype for the famous brand has increased across campus. With Blues athletes sporting their fresh track wear and uniforms, there is no doubt that Under Armour has become a significant presence on campus. On Thursday, September 13, the Under Armour team brought fitness training and athletic events to U of T, as Back Campus was transformed into a state-of-the-art workout studio with a massive stage. Under Armour symbols

Ryerson Rams

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Varsity Blues

Jackie Emick Associate Sports Editor

Laurentian Voyageurs

September 15

2–1 Queen's Gael

Varsity Blues

Students work out at Back Campus.

RUILIN FU/THE VARSITY

were proudly worn by participating students and fitness instructors alike. The yellow and black #WillFindsAWay signs were scattered around, separated by the sea blue U of T shirts handed out to participants. #WeareTO was also a huge sign, flying in the air. The day started out with drop-in events such as dodgeball, yoga, soccer, and volleyball, but ended with three sessions of bodyweight fitness classes. The bodyweight fitness classes were packed with students and athletes alike, taking a much needed break from their first week of studies to stretch and move around. The fitness classes, led by a very motivational fitness coach, started with basic stretching and moved into more

complex moves, providing participants with a good challenge. At one point, U of T mascot True Blue decided to take a shot at some of the moves. Although the sponsorship from Under Armour as the official sportswear brand of U of T may seem like it is only an opportunity for Varsity Blues athletes, it is events like these that help make athletics more accessible to the regular, everyday student. The space was inclusive and inviting, with people of all abilities and fitness levels joining in. Whether a participant was there for an intense workout or just for a fun activity to break up a busy day, it’s doubtful that anyone left the field without a smile on their face.

3–1

September 16 Varsity Blues

September 22 September 23

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RMC Paladins

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Laurentian Voyageurs Nipissing Lakers

WOMEN’S September 15

4–0 UOIT Ridgebacks

Varsity Blues

1–1

September 16 Trent Excalibur

September 22 September 23

Varsity Blues Varsity Blues

Varsity Blues

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Laurentian Voyageurs Nipissing Lakers

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18/19

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

Hart House Theatre Season

HEATHERS: THE MUSICAL

Book, Music and Lyrics by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe

Sept. 21–Oct. 6, 2018

Directed by Jennifer Walls

$12 Student tickets every Wednesday evening!

harthousetheatre.ca

Based on the film written by Daniel Waters

Season Sponsors: