The McGill Tribune Vol. 40 Issue 10

The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020 | VOL. #40 | ISSUE #10

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

FEATURE

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Bill 21 is guilty as charged

Feeding ourselves, and our roots

Gliding, bat-winged dinosaurs surprise scientists

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(Aidan Martin / The McGill Tribune)

Ninety-nine years ago this week: The first forward pass in Canada

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McGill student Coalition Against Bill 21 calls for repeal of secularism law An open letter contesting Bill 21 gathers support from law professors and students Respina Rostamifar Staff Writer McGill University students gathered to sitin against Quebec’s Bill 21 outside the Montreal courthouse on Nov. 2. Organized by Non à la Loi 21, the McGill Muslim Law Students’ Association, RadLaw

McGill, and the Muslim Student Association at McGill, the peaceful demonstrations took place at 8:00 a.m., promptly before the Bill was to be challenged by plaintiffs at the courthouse. In addition to the sit-in, the student coalition, which is a collective of clubs at McGill who denounce Bill 21, composed an open letter

Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre takes theatrical activism to the radio

TNC’s first production bridges international conflict with personal trauma Michelle Siegel Contributor Although the COVID19 pandemic has considerably hindered live theatrical productions at McGill this year, Tuesday Night Cafe (TNC) Theatre has persevered. State of Denial, written by Rahul Varma and directed by

Zachary Couture, U3 Arts, was TNC’s first production of the year, and instead of taking to the stage, it took to the radio waves. State of Denial premiered on Oct. 29 on SoundCloud and was broadcast on McGill’s radio station, CKUT 90.3 FM until Nov. 6. The play is primarily set in 1996, and follows Odette (Emily-

Rose Njonde, U1 Arts), a Rwandan-Canadian documentarian who travels to Turkey to record stories about the Armenian genocide for a film project.

After meeting Sahana (Andrea Kilajian, U4 Arts), an elderly Muslim woman, she is shocked by Sahana’s stories of the Armenian genocide.

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to repeal the Bill.

In 2019, the centre-right Coalition Action Démocratique (CAQ) party, led by Quebec premier François Legault, introduced Bill 21, An Act respecting the Laicity of the State, by invoking section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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McGill students react to the U.S. presidential election The McGill community waited alongside the rest of the world in anticipation Maya Mau Staff Writer McGill students watched alongside the world as the hostile fight between Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joseph Biden and Republican incumbent President

Donald Trump concluded with the announcement of Biden as president-elect.

Chelsea Finstad, U2 Arts, lived in the United States for eight years but has Canadian citizenship.

Finstad was shocked to see some politicians abandon their party affiliations during this

election.

“I’ve been surprised at how different this election has been from previous ones,” Finstad said. “This election is so important that it has even caused faithful Republicans to cross party lines and endorse a Democrat.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

NEWS

McGill student Coalition Against Bill 21 calls for repeal of secularism law An open letter contesting Bill 21 gathers support from law professors and students

Respina Rostamifar Staff Writer McGill University students gathered to sit-in against Quebec’s Bill 21 outside the Montreal courthouse on Nov. 2. Organized

by Non à la Loi 21, the McGill Muslim Law Students’ Association, RadLaw McGill, and the Muslim Student Association at McGill, the peaceful demonstrations took place at 8:00 a.m., promptly before the Bill was to be challenged by plaintiffs at the courthouse. In addition to the sit-in, the student coalition, which is a collective of clubs at McGill who denounce Bill 21, composed an open letter to repeal the Bill.

In 2019, the centre-right Coalition Action Démocratique (CAQ) party, led by Quebec premier François Legault, introduced Bill 21, An Act respecting the Laicity of the State, by invoking section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Known as the notwithstanding clause, section 33 enables legislation to bypass essential rights as defined in the Charter. The Bill describes a list of civil servant positions and governmental occupations—including legislators, police officers, prosecutors, and teachers—who are banned from wearing religious symbols while working. Since its introduction, Bill 21 has been largely opposed due to its disproportionate effects on minorities.

Irfan Tahiri, L3 Law and organizer with the Coalition Against Bill 21, expressed the motivation behind the protests and the form-

Over 450 Faculty of Law members have signed the Faculty’s open letter against Bill 21.

(Brian Schatteman / The McGill Tribune) ing of the Coalition.

“The law forces religious people [...] to compromise their dignity and conscience in order to work for the provincial government,” Tahiri said. “It is unreasonable to impose such a harsh burden to promote a secularism that was never under threat. Indeed, in the climate of growing Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia within Quebec, Bill 21 moves Quebec backwards towards a society marked by fear and division as opposed to harmony and unity.”

In regards to the actions of the student coalition, Gillian Aldridge, U3 Arts and one of NDP McGill’s co-presidents, spoke

on behalf of NDP McGill and stated that they stand in solidarity with the Coalition Against Bill 21.

“NDP McGill recognizes the intrinsic value of pluralism and inclusion both in the McGill community and in Quebec as a whole, and are deeply concerned by the implications of Bill 21 for religious minorities,” Aldridge said. “We stand unequivocally in support of the efforts of the Coalition Against Bill 21 [....] We once again urge the Government of Quebec to reverse this law and to reaffirm this fundamental right of all Canadians.”

Khadija Ahmed, L2 Law and co-presi-

dent of the Muslim Law Students’ Association, was a participant at the protest. Ahmed spoke to the Tribune and reflected upon her experience.

“I’m proud of our sit-in on Monday,” Ahmed said. “We received a lot of support and coverage. The dean of our law school was also present at the sit-in [....] We were a large group of mostly law students standing in solidarity with the plaintiffs and standing against this discriminatory law. We showed that we cared very much about this law and the people fighting it. Many of the people who came were my classmates who are not directly impacted by this law. I’m proud and grateful for my allies, especially.”

Ahmed expressed her sentiments towards the fundamental inconsistencies of Bill 21 and the way in which they inordinately impact minorities, like herself, who work in the public sphere. “[Bill 21] places an additional glass ceiling for some students who identify as women and are also racialized that is unfair,” Ahmed said. “[The Bill] is discriminatory and the government is curtailing this allegation by invoking section 33 of the Charter, but it doesn’t change its discriminatory effect and its violation of fundamental freedom [....] If the majority of people in Quebec want secularism, we can ensure religious neutrality through other means like through individuals’ actions, behaviours and conduct, not by superficially cleansing the public sphere from religious symbols.”

‘The Politics of Representation’ panel discusses accountability in Canadian politics The panel underlined the value of substantive representation in governance Signy Harnad Staff Writer McGill’s Women in House program hosted “The Politics of Representation: Fostering Accountability and Integrity in Governance” on Nov. 5 to explore the significance and value of female participation in Canadian government institutions. The panel, conducted via Zoom, featured McGill Political Science Professor Kelly Gordon, L1 Law student Chloe Kemeni, and Women in House founder Chi Nguyen. They underscored the potential challenges women embarking on careers in politics may face.

The event marks the first panel discussion of the academic year organized

by Women in House, a shadowing program that aims to give female-identifying McGill students the opportunity to pair up with Members of Parliament and Senators. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Iyanu Soyege, U3 Arts, the panel’s moderator and a coordinator of Women in House, explained that she sought to ground the discussion of female representation in the network of social movements burgeoning across Canada.

“With the people of the Wet’suwet’en territory fighting for sovereignty over their land [and with] Black Lives Matter, we are trying to view government institutions as avenues

for change,” Soyege said. “We’re asking what can happen when women do get into government, and what we can do to ensure that our communities are transformed.”

The panelists began their discussion of representation by distinguishing between two kinds of representation: Descriptive and substantive. The former is defined by the number of women in an institution, and the latter occurs when women-friendly policies are actually enacted. In doing so, Kemeni examined

The panel, which featured three women who have successfully launched careers in politics, falls in line with the mandate of Women in House, which was founded in 2001 to foster female participation in different spheres of political life.

(Nadezda Grapes / Shutterstock.com)

the different uses of identity politics in a liberal society.

“We need to critically assess what it means to be within our identity and intentionally understand it,” Kemeni said. “[...] We often talk about how we need more women, more racialized folks, and more folks from different backgrounds, and so they are [brought] to the table, and it’s almost as if they’re just there to [...] not say anything. So when we talk about reclaiming identity politics within its feminist understanding, this means using your identity, and the teachings that come with who you are, your ancestors, [...] what they taught you, and bringing that to the table.”

The panel then discussed the informal means through which women can exercise leadership and foreground local communities.

“Think about all of the parent councils, all of the activation that happens in communities by women,” Nguyen said.

“Right after COVID-19, who was setting up mutual aid societies? Who was setting up these networks? It was driven by women’s leadership, and there’s an undervaluing of that care work.”

The speakers also addressed the barriers female politicians who pursue substantive change face. Professor Gordon mentioned the case of Jody WilsonRaybould, a woman who resigned from the Trudeau cabinet in 2019 amid the

SNC-Lavalin affair.

“What emerges is this pattern where although women are welcomed into the organization […], we also see people like Jody Wilson-Raybould doing [...] what her community asked her to do, which is envisioning and [doing] things [in] a different way, and the party then ignores, denies, or blames [women like] her,” Gordon said.

Following a question that asked how the panelists have remained optimistic while navigating often-destabilizing political careers, the speakers imparted advice to the audience in their concluding remarks.

“For me, I’ve been able to find my tribe,” Nguyen said. “It should be feeding your soul, and if it’s not, you need to step back, reassess, and keep trying things on for size.”

Alex Byrne, U1 Arts, attended the event and praised the panelists for their candidness, while also emphasizing the need to continue engaging in nuanced conversations about representation.

“I feel like so much of our talk about female representation is this liberal [idea] that women should be ambitious, and we need to empower women to have seats, but we rarely talk about the process it takes to get there,” Byrne said. “It was eye-opening to hear that spoken about in a way that was so blunt and open.”

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

NEWS

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PGSS Council discusses McGill’s plans for in-person learning in Winter 2021

Council approved a motion to advocate for a more inclusive Graduate Mobility Award Ella Fitzhugh Staff Writer At the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Council virtual council meeting on Nov. 4, councillors approved a motion to oppose new changes to the Graduate Mobility Award (GMA) and discussed McGill’s recently announced plans to move some classes in the Faculty of Science to in person for the Winter 2021 semester.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial government has

To address the issue of a recent influx of resignations due to the pandemic, the PGSS passed a motion to ratify the resignations of the External Affairs Officer and the Student Support Commissioner.

(Jasmine Acharya / The McGill Tribune)

restricted university-related travel, narrowing the GMA eligibility requirements.

Before the pandemic, the GMA students who received the award would pursue research abroad, often allowing international students to do research in their home countries. The recent GMA limitations have suspended international travel for research, leaving some international students with setbacks in pursuit of their studies.

University Affairs Commissioner and Ph.D student in Communication Studies Kristi Kouchakji pointed to the miscommunications between McGill and the Quebec government and explained that the new motion will attempt to provide more clarity.

“This motion for me really is about making sure that going forward, for students who won’t be able to travel before April 2022, that McGill is using its platform and using the position that it has with the Quebec government to advocate for a more inclusive understanding of what it is to do graduate research in Quebec,” Kouchakji said.

After some discussion, the councillors unanimously approved the motion.

Next on the agenda was an announcement from the Biology Graduate Student Association (BGSA) concerning McGill’s plans to roll out some in-person, on-campus teaching activities starting in January 2021.

An email sent on Oct. 30 to the Department of Biology asked the department chairs to

submit a list of teachables by the first week of November. Shannon Dunphy, president of the BGSA, explained her opposition to McGill’s proposed plans regarding in-person classes for the Winter 2021 semester.

“We’ve recently written a statement in opposition to increase presence of inperson classes for January 2021,” Dunphy said. “[The statement is] primarily focussing on Faculty of Science BGSAs [….]

TAs and grad students have not been consulted on this issue, and so we’ve written a statement and we’d like to invite other BGSAs to co-sign it.”

Dunphy expressed that McGill’s failure to consult TAs and graduate students was a significant issue, because TAs will be susceptible to all the health risks associated with being present on campus.

“They’re also not requiring undergraduate students to wear masks on campus in classrooms either,” Dunphy said.

During the discussion period, Ana Moga, Ph.D candidate in the School of Physical & Occupational Therapy and member of the Graduate Rehabilitation Science Society, questioned whether students are able to reap the same educational outcomes from remote learning.

Dunphy explained that although certain courses benefit from having an in-person format, McGill’s statement for in-person classes should be reconsidered because it includes in-person classes for courses that can remain in an online format.

MOMENT OF THE MEETING

At the beginning of the meeting, Council Speaker Adrienne Tessier noted that there was a palpable sense of stress in the air. Despite this, Tessier still found a moment to laugh at the end of the meeting, enter taining a motion for adjournment that was met with silence. She amicably joked, “I was about to say I’m flattered that no one wants to leave.”

SOUNDBITE

“Dialogue is ver y similar to Keep. meSAFE that we have except for instead of mental health ser vices, which is what Keep.meSAFE is for, Dialogue is for physical health [….]

Tthe cost of the plan is $4.25 per student per month […] which obviously if you compare it to how much a student would pay if they go to a clinic it’s still cheaper than a single visit [….] It can be fully opt-outable.”

—Dakota Rogers, Member Ser vices Officer, outlining the initial stages of potentially implementing a new service called ‘dialogue.’

McGill plans on enhancing in-person teaching activities for the Winter 2021 semester Re-opening plans draw criticism and praise from McGill community Dante Ventulieri Contributor In an email sent on Nov. 4, McGill’s Associate Provost (Teaching & Academic Programs) Christopher Buddle and Deputy Provost (Student Life & Learning) Fabrice Lebeau announced plans to increase in-person teaching activities for the Winter 2021 semester. As stated in September, remote learning will still remain the primary delivery method for courses.

McGill’s administration outlined the two tiers of academic activities for Winter 2021. The first tier, for which in-person attendance will be mandatory, includes courses and learning activities that are difficult to deliver remotely, such as critical laboratories, clinical activities, and project courses.

Second-tier classes will provide students with the option to be on campus or use remote alternatives, and include seminar courses, tutorials, conferences, laboratories, and some lectures.

Prior to the Nov. 4 announcement, McGill emailed department chairs and professors on Oct. 30 explaining their plans. Those internal emails requested that department chairs compile a list of courses that can potentially be taught in person.

These plans to hold some in person classes have received backlash from members of the McGill community. At a Town Hall on Oct. 30, members of McGill’s Biology Graduate Students’ Association discussed various concerns about the safety and feasibility of the transition to in-person learning. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Travis Chen, a chief delegate for the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM), explained how many teaching assistants (TA) were caught off guard by McGill’s announcement.

“The safety of TAs is a main concern,” Chen said. “The ventilation [of classrooms] would not be up to standard […], McGill is not requiring students to wear masks, [and] TAs and

Citing little evidence of coronavirus transmission on campus since March, McGill looks to more in-person offerings. (mcgill.ca) professors are not allowed to enforce masks [usage] themselves [….] McGill’s plans do not line up with the scientific consensus on how to limit [the spread of COVID-19].”

Beyond safety concerns, Chen is concerned that inperson teaching will place additional strain and extra work hours on TAs. “There is no other way to look at this, [as] it is going to hurt the quality of teaching,” Chen said. “[TAs] will be more stressed, they will have more work to do, and they’re not going to be paid more even though they’re working more hours and working harder.”

Shannon Dunphy, president of the Biology Graduate Student Association (BGSA), said that the McGill administration has been unresponsive to the BGSA’s complaints. Dunphy is concerned that the university’s plans

might create an unlevel playing field for students.

“I imagine students will feel pressured [to attend the oncampus activities],” Dunphy said. “McGill will essentially be creating two ‘tiers’ or ‘classes’ of students, but with both groups expected to perform at the same calibre.”

In an email to the Tribune, Provost and Vice-Principal Christopher Manfredi stated that student feedback helped inform the decision to provide the option for in-person classes.

“We have heard from students that they are seeking connection to McGill,” Manfredi wrote. “[Many] instructors and administrative and support staff are also missing opportunities to connect with students in person.”

On Oct. 30, the same day the email went out, La Presse published an article signed by Suzanne Fortier, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill, and seven other university administrators across Montreal. In it, they explained how Montreal’s revival is dependent on the thousands of students, both domestic and international, who attend the city’s universities.

Chen recognizes that many TAs and students may enjoy in-person teaching more than online delivery, but does not believe that it was the main reason McGill has made its new plans. Chen believes a probable drop in enrollment is at the root of the issue.

“The student survey said that students missed in-class teaching, but that ignores the idea that students [might not] want to go to class during a pandemic, [and that] they just miss the in-class aspect,” Chen said. “They’re worried about funding and their source of income. The implication at the town hall is that this must be done to keep the undergraduate experience.”

For more information on online and in person courses, visit McGill’s FAQ page for the Winter 2021 semester.

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NEWS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

SSMU President reveals five-year plan to support future growth of student services Council also approved a motion to implement an equity triage to SSMU’s Equity Policy Ella Milloy Staff Writer The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held its fifth Legislative Council meeting of the Fall 2020 semester on Nov. 5, where SSMU representatives discussed President Jemark Earle’s five-year-plan which aims to further improve the student union. The council also passed two new motions: The first concerned the implementation of an equity triage within SSMU’s Equity Policy, and the second amended the standing rules for the 2020-2021 Legislative Council.

SSMU President Jemark Earle, who campaigned on creating a long-term plan which would allow for the Society to expand their services, introduced his fiveyear-plan to Council for consultation. The proposal hopes to make SSMU’s staff, operations, clubs, services, finance, and advocacy departments more robust and to support their continual growth in the coming years. Earle suggested several ways that SSMU can improve the quality of its services in order to maintain their development over the next few years.

“Executive turnover is extremely high [...] and executive teams [act] on impulsive one-year decisions,” Earle said. “[This is] the bane of [the] student union

SSMU legislative council meets next on Nov. 19. (Christopher Li / The McGill Tribune) and results in ineffectiveness [....] This plan will create a subcommittee of the Legislative Council, which will include members at large, councillors, directors, executives, and full-time staff, to ensure that it gets carried through from year to year.”

Notable recommendations in the five-year-plan include renovations to the SSMU building’s second-floor cafeteria and student bar, strategies to better integrate clubs into campus life, and calls to increase SSMU staffing support by 2026.

Earle explained that the goal of the plan was to prioritize services, clubs, and operations and to make the Society’s building a more welcoming hub for student life.

“In three years time, I think we would be able to renovate the [cafeteria]

because there is a lot of under-utilized space which could be turned into quite a nice student lounge,” Earle said. “In my opinion, we could also look at getting some food options there, but I think there is a general need for a hangout space on campus.”

After Earle’s presentation, the council moved to approve two motions. Only the motion regarding the implementation of an equity triage process to the Society’s Equity Policy generated debate during the meeting. Moved by Vice-President Student Life Maheen Akter, the motion addresses the long-standing pattern of equity groups facing delays in many of SSMU’s operations. Akter explained that the equity triage process would prioritize marginalized groups when dealing with the society’s operations, communications, IT, human resources, and accounting departments.

“It is absolutely our priority to [...] put processes [like this] in place to prioritize equity-seeking groups and to [also] serve all student groups,” Akter said. “As we put these [motions] forward, we are also constantly thinking of ways that we can improve all these systems and [...] about why there are backlogs in some areas of our services, and figuring out ways to fix them.”

MOMENT OF THE MEETING

During his Five-Year-Plan presentation to the legislative council, President Earle discussed various initiatives that could garner more student engagement with SSMU, including finishing Ger ts’ renovations, bringing back the yearbook, and opening a SSMU tax clinic. Acknowledging it as an ambitious idea, President Earle also put forward the possibility of the Society owning its own therapy dogs as a potential ser vice by 2026 and spoke with great excitement as he described his idea to the council.

SOUNDBITE

“The fact that we need a triage is not ideal [....] As the President outlined in the generative discussion on the Five-Year-Plan, we are understaffed [and] we do have a ver y limited capacity compared to the ser vices we are tr ying to offer and the student body that we have to ser ve. The capacity just isn’t always there to do it in a timely manner. If anything this amendment is tr ying to reduce the impact of that lack of capacity on equity-seeking groups that are already disadvantaged in a number of other ways.” - Brooklyn Fizzle, VP University Affairs.

OPINION

FALL 2020 SSMU REFERENDUM ENDORSEMENTS The McGill Tribune Editorial Board The McGill Tribune presents its endorsements for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s Fall 2020 Referendum.

AMBASSADOR FEE RENEWAL

YES The proposed renewal of the $2.00 opt-outable fee would continue to fund students’ participation in academic and extracurricular conferences, competitions, and other events until 2025. Although most activities covered by the fee are currently suspended or online due to the pandemic, renewing the fee will allow campus organizations to engage in them when in-person activities are possible again. Considering that demand for the Ambassador Fund in 2019 greatly exceeded the amount available, student groups evidently need the money to attend external events. These activities are incredibly valuable, as they enrich students’ experiences and give them the opportunity to represent McGill at functions beyond those offered on campus.

Moreover, some of these events are financially inaccessible for many students, and the fee is instrumental in ensuring that all students who want to attend them can. The Tribune’s answer to this first question is a definite “yes.”

DAYCARE FEE INCREASE

YES The SSMU daycare, which was founded in 1999, provides childcare for 38 children aged 18 months to five years old of both graduate and undergraduate students at McGill.

The proposed increase of the non-opt-outable fee from $2.72 to $3.00 is necessary for the maintenance and expansion of the daycare, which has been operating at a near deficit for the past several years. The daycare provides an integral service for student parents and offers important experience for students pursuing work in childcare. Because the daycare is currently unable to meet demand, the Tribune endorses a “yes” vote to ensure that the facility is able to best serve the student body.

MUSICIAN’S COLLECTIVE FEE RENEWAL

YES The renewal of the $0.10 opt-outable fee from 2021-2025 for the McGill Musician’s Collective would allow the club to maintain operations at its current capacity. Founded in 2010, the Collective serves as a hub for the McGill music community and provides services that include teaching and performance opportunities, rehearsal spaces, affordable music lessons, and a supply of instruments available to all students. The club’s services make

music accessible to students of all musical backgrounds, from total beginners to more experienced players. The Collective also fosters a sense of community and a unique outlet for creative expression during the isolation many are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tribune endorses the renewal of the $0.10 opt-outable fee, as the Musician’s Collective is a valuable service for many students.

INTEREST IN STUDENT TRANSPORT INITIATIVE

YES McGill Student Transport (MUSTBUS) is a student-run cooperative that seeks to provide students with a safe and affordable way to travel by bus from Montreal to major cities like Toronto, Boston, and New York City. MUSTBUS ran a pilot route to and from New York in February 2020, with each trip selling out. Priced at around $30 each way, the buses departed from Service Point on Friday and returned on Sunday, with no substantial delays reported. Once it is safe to travel again, MUSTBUS aims to expand its service to other cities and continue to make student travel more accessible.

Although the cooperative plans to propose a small opt-outable fee next semester to keep the service affordable, there is no fee increase associated with this question. Therefore, the Tribune endorses a “yes” vote to support the continued development of this project.

The voting period will be from Nov. 9-13.

(Nicholas Raffoul / The McGill Tribune)

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

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EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Helen Wu editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Aidan Martin amartin@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Katia Lo Innes kinnes@mcgilltribune.com Nina Russell nrussell@mcgilltribune.com Kaja Surborg ksurborg@mcgilltribune.com

News Editors Maya Abuali, Kate Addison & Sequoia Kim news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Jonah Fried & Kennedy McKee-Braide opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editors Sophia Gorbounov & Ronny Litvack-Katzman scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Life Editors Alaana Kumar & Leyla Moy studentlife@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Kevin Vogel features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Vanessa Barron & Jonathan Giammaria arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Adam Burton & Sarah Farnand sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Ruobing Chen & Chloe Rodriguez design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Caroline Shelton photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editors Sarah Ford & Alexandre Hinton multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Benjamin Alexandor & Sasha Njini webdev@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Jackie Lee copy@mcgilltribune.com

OPINION

OFF THE BOARD

Social Media Editor Marie Saadeh socialmedia@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Marilie Pilon business@mcgilltribune.com

TPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Helen Wu, Caitlin Kindig, McEan Taylor,Tara Alami, Yara Shaheen-Abuelreish, Deana Korsunsky, Sequoia Kim, Kennedy McKee-Braide, Shreya Rastogi, Marilie Pilon, Heela Achakzai

STAFF Maya Abuali, Jasmine Acharya, Sepideh Afshar, Reza Ali, Margaret Askey, Zoe Babad-Palmer, Eve Cable, Rory Daly, Ella Fitzhugh, Defne Gurcay, Signy Harnad, Lucy Keller, Deana Korsunsky, Erika MacKenzie, Maya Mau, Madison McLauchlan, Adam Menikefs, Ella Milloy, Naomi Mirny, Matthew Molinaro, Shafaq Nami, Respina Rostamifar, Brian Schatteman, Noah Vaton, Josephine Wang, Xiaotian Wang, Margaret Wdowiak, Lowell Wolfe, Wendy Zhao

CONTRIBUTORS Michael Dickinson, Matthew Hawkins, Sara Eldabaa, Michelle Siegel, Taja de Silva, Dante Ventulieri, Ellie Wand

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EDITORIAL

Bill 21 is guilty as charged The Quebec Superior Court began hearing testimony on Nov. 2 in a civil case against Bill 21, a 2019 policy that prohibits certain public sector employees from wearing religious symbols in the workplace. Although the plaintiffs contend that the Bill violates certain fundamental rights protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (CCRF), the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) has pointed to popular support for secularism and invoked the CCRF’s notwithstanding clause, arguing that religious freedoms fall under provincial jurisdiction. If the Court favours these arguments, many McGill students pursuing employment in the public sector will continue to be discriminated against.

Moreover, considering the magnitude of the constitutional issues in question, the outcome of the proceedings could turn the Canadian legal system on its head.

But respect for basic human dignity cannot become a casualty of limitless litigation and performative politics. On trial is not just the wording of the Constitution, but also the CAQ’s fervent xenophobic agenda.

Canadians’ civil liberties must be upheld by the

Sophia Gorbounov Science & Technology Editor Though I was not born in my family’s home country of Russia, having parents who were new to Canadian customs had many influences on me. Because I was born in Canada, my background did not provoke much of an identity crisis, but my parents still brought their traditions into our new suburban home. While it took many years to understand, I learned that these cultural quirks were harmless at worst and added to the fun personal narrative that is my life.

Those who keep a fairly balanced diet would know that

courts, notwithstanding the notwithstanding clause. Yet it is equally incumbent on McGill and other educational institutions to protest such legislation that undermines the livelihoods of their students.

If the law affected Quebecers equally, it would still be unconscionable because it insinuates that Quebec is a cultural monolith, whereas it is and always has been diverse.

But its proscriptions are not equally distributed.

Unlike Muslim women who wear hijabs, Sikhs who wear turbans, or Jews who wear kippahs, people of the Christian faith do not traditionally wear conspicuous garments. Although some may wear rosary necklaces or other religious adornments, these can easily be hidden under clothing, allowing them to more easily comply with the law.

This double standard is morally bankrupt, and it should not become legally permissible.

Secularism must be a ruse if it favours Christian religious expression over others, as its most passionate prosecutors paradoxically advance it under the shadow of the giant cross atop Mount Royal while touting other legacies of colonial French Catholicism. Even if Bill 21

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is propped upon stilts of legal technicalities, it will nonetheless fail to differentiate between religious and public affairs because it was only intended to exclude some religions, not all. Instead, the law will triumph when the CAQ’s cultural intolerance expels thousands from public careers in a misdirected effort to preserve Quebec’s cultural idiosyncrasies.

Still, Bill 21’s proponents claim that separating Church and State is especially necessary in the classroom. Nevertheless, by denying teachers’ right to religious expression, the law is preventing them from doing their jobs, pushing them out of schools, and hindering their chances of promotion. But the law does not only harm teachers, it also harms their students.

Psychologists have shown that all students benefit from diversity, not just students from specific religious or cultural backgrounds—although it is important for these students to be able to relate to their teachers.

The CAQ’s mission of exclusion threatens McGill as an institution. It is likely to discourage many Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, and students of other faiths from applying, as its implications not only suggest

that their faith would hinder their economic mobility, but also that they are unwelcome in Quebec. Although McGill has released statements of “concern” and provided resources to assist current students who are affected

by Bill 21, the university can do more to protect students. Many medical and education students, for instance, are required to complete professional experience components in classrooms and hospitals across the province.

Administrators must facilitate these programs in a safe manner that ensures students’ right to religious expression.

Above all, as sanctuaries of learning and critical discourse, universities have a responsibility to promote the moral integrity of the societies that produce them. Likewise, as reservoirs of capital, innovation, and national reputation, they possess tremendous political influence that their administrators often underestimate. Bill 21’s secularism belies Quebec’s multicultural reality, but universities are indeed a source of public wisdom and guidance.

It behooves McGill to denounce bigotry and demand that Quebec’s courts dig channels of social equality rather than deep trenches of fortified ignorance.

Growing up with immigrant parents—kind of eating three meals a day is the standard. But no, not I. From the moment I could consume solid food until the age of 14, I ate four proper meals a day. Breakfast, school lunch, home lunch, and dinner. This was how my mom fed me, so naturally, I assumed this was simply the way things were.

Imagine my surprise when I finally started going over to friends’ houses (albeit later than some), to learn that there was one, only one, meal after school.

After a talk with my mom about my daily meal plan, she explained that she thought it was silly to be awake so late and eat so little. She simply ignored the threemeals rule and continued emulating what her parents had done.

Eventually, I was no longer stifled with a 7:30 dinnertime, allowing me to pursue my dream of eating three balanced meals a day. In retrospect, my mother was right to ensure I was not spending six or more hours without eating.

As I grew up, I started to learn that my parents were doing what they thought was best for my well-being for no other reason than following previously successful traditions.

While on the topic of food, I can’t leave out tea. Growing up, tea

was the only beverage in the house.

I seldom drank water, let alone soda or juice.

At school, I was known as the “Tea Girl,” because every day for lunch, my mom would fill my reusable water bottle with piping-hot tea. As with mealtimes, developing a social life made me realize that tea is not the typical drink of 11-year-olds. However, I embraced the honorary title of Tea Girl. It was a harmless quirk, and frankly, my mom’s tea tasted great.

Growing up in a Russianspeaking household, living in an English-speaking city, and going to a French-speaking school meant some words were lost along the way. It is common for people to forget words in one language and remember them in another, and I sometimes went years before I learned the English translation for common words. Among the list are the words “comma” and “acetaminophen,” but my personal favourite was the word “buckwheat.”

In the Gorbounov household, a fan-favourite breakfast food was cooked buckwheat with milk and sugar, like a dense cereal.

Called “grechnevaya kasha” in Russian, the term bears a striking

resemblance to the Russian words for “Greek oatmeal.”

Until the comfortable age of 17, I casually told my friends about the Greek oatmeal I had for breakfast. Upon asking my mom, after a laughing fit that lasted four minutes, she introduced the word buckwheat to my vocabulary and explained that the word “grechnevaya” did not, in fact, even mean “Greek.” Telling this embarrassing story to my Russian roommate earned a similar explosion of laughter, but hearing the words “I thought so too!” reminded me that I was not alone in my language fumbles. More than anything, it was an entertaining connection I shared with my multilingual friends.

Compared to some, my experiences with parents from another country are mild and entertaining. I was lucky enough to rarely have clashing cultural differences, and being a secondgeneration immigrant did not cloud my upbringing. Sometimes though, it is fun to share and enjoy the little things, and for that, I cannot thank my parents enough, even if it earned some confused looks from my peers as I sipped my lemoninfused orange pekoe.

6

OPINION

COMMENTARY

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

Harm reduction in residences can save lives

Michael Dickinson Contributor On Sept. 15, I, along with many otheFor many students, experimenting with recreational drugs is part of the university experience, and a subculture of illicit drug use exists at McGill. To mitigate harmful consequences such as addiction and overdose, floor fellows in first-year residences have historically been trained to practice a harm reduction approach to drug use, based on the principles of nonjudgement, compassion, and openness.

However, in January, McGill enacted changes that shifted its policies towards a zero-tolerance, abstinence-only approach.

This decision can have dangerous ramifications for students since a lack of honest communication about drug use can prevent students from seeking help for drug-related issues. McGill can better protect students in residences by reinstating a harm reduction policy that focusses on safety rather than punishment.

Abstinence-based policies penalize drug users rather than prioritize their safety. On the other hand, harm reduction methods have proven to be more effective than zero-tolerance policies because they destigmatize drug use and encourage users to seek treatment if they want or need it. Accordingly, places that have implemented harm reduction methods have seen decreases in addiction, overdose, and drug-related diseases. However, under the new policy, McGill students who need such support may fear they will be

COMMENTARY

punished for coming forward. This could make them less likely to seek guidance from health and support services, including the Student Wellness Hub. It is unrealistic for McGill to believe these policies will prevent students from using drugs, and

report any suspicion of drug use by their peers. This creates a hostile atmosphere that pits students against one another and discourages them from being honest with their friends about using drugs. If someone is struggling with addiction, they may

Last year, SSMU’s Legislative Council passed a motion to condemn the university’s intention to shift towards an abstinence-only approach to drug use. (Jasmine Acharya / The McGill Tribune)

it would therefore be more effective for the administration to prioritize making drug use as safe as possible.

One way to implement harm reduction is to foster open communication, but McGill’s new policy compels students to

be less likely to tell their friends, who could risk punishing the user by reporting them or being punished themselves for keeping quiet. Harm reduction encourages openness and honesty, while abstinenceonly policies isolate drug users.

New policies also put significant pressure on floor fellows, who are now obligated to file reports to administration or law enforcement if they learn of a student’s drug use. This alters the role of a floor fellow from a supportive to an authoritative figure, discouraging students from seeking help if they or their friends are facing addiction or an overdose. Many popular party drugs in the city have been laced with opioids such as fentanyl, which makes them especially dangerous. If McGill returned to a harm reduction approach, floor fellows could distribute testing kits to students who intend to use drugs so that they can be conscious of what exactly they are taking. Instead of encouraging floor fellows to report their students, McGill should want students to see them as trusted resources. This way, students using drugs can do so in the safest way possible.

By turning to an abstinence-only policy, McGill is ignoring both the realities of student drug use and the research proving the benefits of harm reduction-based policies. It is impossible to keep drugs out of residences, but it is possible to treat drug use as a health issue and encourage students to receive support if they face problems related to addiction. Condemnation and punishment do nothing to keep students safe. McGill students should call upon Student Housing and Hospitality Services to reinstate a harm reduction policy that includes drug testing kits in residences and further training for floor fellows. In doing so, they could reduce the risk of addiction and overdose and potentially save lives.

Gyms are not a COVID-19 risk

Ellie Wand Contributor On Oct. 26, Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced that Montreal’s red zone restrictions would be extended until Nov. 23. This, among other things, means that gyms and fitness centres in the Montreal region are to remain closed.

A group called Centres d’activités physiques du Québec, composed of some 200 fitness professionals, stated that they planned to resume operations despite this directive, defying the government restriction. Due to the threat of large fines, however, many have since backed down.

Still, this pushback is necessary for the government to be held accountable for the restrictions it is implementing— specifically, on what basis it is implementing them. There is very little data to support the idea that gyms are unsafe: There have been no recorded COVID-19 outbreaks linked to gyms or fitness centres in Montreal. In fact, a Europe-wide study, commissioned

by EuropeActive and conducted by Sheffield Hallam University and Kin Juan Carlos University, found that of the 62 million visits to the gym, there were only 487 reported positive cases, making the average infection rate only 0.78 per

cent per 100,000 visits. Another study conducted in the U.S. by the IHRSA and MXM collected data from fitness clubs that opened during the beginning of May, and found that of 49.4 million check-ins, the incidence of COVID-19 cases was 0.002 per cent. According to these studies, the risk of COVID-19 spreading at gyms appears statistically insignificant. The Quebec government’s decision to close gyms, therefore, seems misguided—and ought to be challenged.

As the winter months approach, opportunities for outdoor exercise will dwindle. Days will get darker and colder, and the few outdoor fitness activities people have been able to do will quickly become more difficult. In order to help fight the virus, it is imperative for people’s physical and mental health that they are able to exercise. Many Montrealers are already facing increasing isolation due to red zone restrictions. Many work or study at home, live alone, or are unable to see their friends and family. If they are also not able to exercise, their overall health and well-being will undoubtedly suffer.

Students in particular will suffer if gyms remain closed. McGill students are facing a primarily online fall and winter semester. This means most students spend much of their time sitting at home on their computer, rarely—if ever—on

campus or interacting with their peers and professors. Some students live alone, and due to restrictions, do not often leave

Bars, restaurants and gyms have been closed since red zone restrictions were put in place in Montreal on Oct. 1. (Defne Gurcay / The McGill Tribune)

their homes. If the government is asking them to sacrifice their ability to exercise as well, it must provide sufficient evidence to support that decision.

Aspects of the government’s current

strategy, which has Montreal constantly in and out of lockdown, are ineffective, as was pointed out in a leaked report from Montreal’s health authority. Some restrictions, such as those in place for gyms, are implemented without proper evidence to support them and without considering the other effects they may have. This reactionary strategy seems only to take into account overall case numbers. This results in enforced restrictions and closures, some of which, like those on gyms, are not based on evidence and can potentially be detrimental to people’s health and wellbeing. The government needs to devise a consistent long-term strategy that factors in more than simply the overall number of COVID-19 cases, and consider the effect their restrictions will have on not just case numbers, but also on people’s well-being.

Some of the government’s policies in response to COVID-19 are haphazard at best. Gyms do not appear to pose a significant threat for COVID-19 transmission. People need to try to get back to some semblance of a normal life, as the current approach to tackling the virus strains our overall well-being. In the coming months, gyms are not going to be detrimental to health, but rather essential for it.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 7

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

‘Positions’ never reaches its climax

Ariana Grande’s latest LP combines uninspired lyrics with bland production Jonathan Giammaria Arts & Entertainment Editor Over the lightly plucked strings of Positions’s opening track, “shut up,” Ariana Grande sings, “All them demons help me see shit differently / So don’t be sad for me.” The self-assured lyrics swiftly address the emotional core of her two previous LPs, Sweetener and thank u, next, with a nonchalance meant to herald a new, more carefree era in the pop superstar’s music. For the most part, Positions is just that: A continuous slew of understated R&B beats paired with the bravura of Grande’s vocals, escaping track after track into the simple joys of vibing with someone you may not love, and having lots of sex with them, too.

Positions’s sonic cohesion, though, is its biggest weakness. Without the producing genius of Sweetener’s Pharrell Williams—who made what could have been repetitive tracks into endlessly loopable listens—Grande too often breathily croons her lyrics over indistinguishable low-tempo riffs. “nasty” and “six-thirty” lack the sparse string arrangements that liven the album’s highlights, and are as forgettable in their sound as the one-

night-stands that Grande sings about. In “34+35,” Grande coyly asks, “Can you stay up all night? / Fuck me ‘til the daylight,” without the vocal acrobatics needed to keep the chorus’ unabashed sexuality exciting for the entire song. Sex is hardly new in Grande’s discography, but without the euphemistic playfulness and catchy hooks of past hits like “Side to Side” and “Into You,” too much of Positions overstates its horniness to the point of boredom.

The album’s best moments, then, are featured when Grande explores the more personal sentiments underlying Positions’s flirtations. On “off the table,” a more cautious Grande sings about the uncertainties of finding love again until she rushes to the end of her chorus with, “Just want to know, is love completely off the table?” framing the line more like a desire than a question. In these brief moments, songs like “pov” and “safety net” feature the same earnest lyricism that cast doubt on Positions’s easygoing attitude, though the sincerity of Grande’s singing can equally be found in the album’s lighter tracks. Like a breath of fresh air to the LP’s dull assembly, “my hair” is a jazzy, tongue-in-cheek bop where Grande flexes

Without the playfulness and catchy hooks of past hits like “Side to Side” and “Into You,” too much of ‘Positions’ overstates its horniness to the point of boredom. (pitchfork.com) her vocal range as she sings about letting her hair down for a lover. The song’s subject matter is a clever and intimate reversal of the singer’s most publicized

feature—and unlike so much of Positions, Grande finally seems to be embracing her album’s concept, letting loose and just having fun with it.

‘From Body to Body to Bodies’ explores corporeality in a virtual world Exhibit displays the physical transcendence of human connection Sara Eldabaa Contributor The COVID-19 pandemic has ceased in-person gatherings, undoubtedly changing our preconceived ideas of connection. From Body to Body to Bodies, an exhibition currently on display at the Time Art and Culture gallery, is showcasing the work of several Montreal-based artists who tackle this socially-distanced reality. Each artist explores the relationship between physical bodies and the ways in which we remain connected virtually despite the issues of the pandemic, climate change, and political polarization.

The works at the exhibition use different modalities of sensation to address this issue. Paule Gilbert, an MFA candidate at Concordia University, focusses on touch perception in Contact Series, a collection of three multimedia sculptures.

“Body-Made” is a series of six grey stoneware objects made out of clay that are positioned side-by-side to capture the organic structure of physical contact. Gilbert uses clay, a medium that relies on human touch, to convey the warmth that is created between the contact of two bodies. “[“Body-Made”] emerged from an obsession of mine regarding the positioning of the body in space,” Gilbert said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “[It blurs]

Paule Gilbert examines the notion of trace in Contact Series. (Sara Eldabaa / The McGill Tribune) the frontier between what is being marked and what is marking.”

The other two pieces in Contact Series are directly influenced by the pandemic, as the requirements of social distancing discourages touching. Gilbert realized that knitting could represent touching without physical contact through the complex connections of knots and strands. The first of these is an untitled installation consisting of two sheets of red wool hanging on wooden hangers on each end. The other is an inkjet close-up photo of the same red wool which allows for a clearer view of its intricacies.

“During the process of making the textile, the symbolic load of the device became more potent as I reflected on the gesture of using one thread constantly criss-crossing,” Gilbert said. “[Knitting brings] forth the idea of social fabric and its interconnectivity, [like] intersections [and] being on the same thread.”

Similarly to Gilbert, interdisciplinary conceptual artist and writer Yvetta Sunyoung Kang conveys a haptic experience, but through a completely different medium.

Tenderhands is a display of 50 instructions that double as poems,

such as: “To understand your fear of uncertainty.” Kang started writing them while in lockdown to cope with the anxiety that came with the pandemic.

“Because of COVID, we’ve started utilizing hands differently and treating them more as a potential contagious vessel that spreads the infection,” Kang said. “With this concern, [...] I wanted to explore many and different instructions that can help ease individuals’ anxiety on [or] about their own body, especially hands.”

The instructions consist of simple steps that involve different

hand movements and thought exercises to prompt viewers to form connections between their hands and what they embody.

“The more I wrote each instruction of Tenderhands, I have realized this piece definitely relates to understanding [the] biopolitics about hands [...] depending on culture, class, geography and so on,” Kang said. “Some hands are forced to be exposed to more infectious circumstances than the other hands.

I’ve also noticed [that] it is important at this strange time to bring up how we consider the interior as our body and the exterior as the other’s body.”

Kang includes a video of herself performing the instructions so viewers can follow along. Additionally, she invites the audience to write a word they associate with their hands, and in exchange, they can opt to receive 200 weekly instructions from her. This piece is ongoing, as Kang plans to write 400 instructions that will be available on her Tumblr page.

Despite how difficult 2020 has been, this exhibition demonstrates that remaining connected transcends corporeality. Art has the power to unite during times of isolation, reminding us that we are not alone.

The From Body to Body to Bodies exhibition is available until Nov. 14.

Drinking cold sweet tea has always been my preferred way to pass a warm summer’s day. Growing up in Georgia, sweet tea was one of my favourite treats as a young child. While seemingly every Southern household had a pitcher of the sugary beverage in the fridge, ready to be enjoyed at any time, now that I live in Montreal, I have to brew sweet tea myself. As adults, it’s these specific foods and drinks that help us remember our families, even when we move far away from our hometowns. Having the dishes we grew up with not only reminds us of our childhood, but also keeps us connected to our roots. With limited options in Montreal to enjoy food from back home, however, finding these dishes can require a bit of effort.

Kayin Queeley, a case manager for the Office of the Dean of Students, grew up eating the national dish of Saint Kitts and Nevis: Saltfish and dumplings served with potatoes, breadfruit, and fried plantains.

Now living in Longueuil, most of Queeley’s family remains in Saint Kitts and Nevis, making it all the more important for him to continue cooking Caribbean cuisine with his wife and daughter.

“In many ways, when I’m cooking something that my mom cooked, [that] I saw my aunt cook or my brother cook, it’s like sharing that experience, even though they’re not there,” Queeley said. “So really, it just means keeping my culture alive.”

Recreating the dishes made by loved ones is an integral means of staying connected to home, but there are limited options in Montreal. Restaurants might not serve regionally specific dishes, and attempting to make it yourself may require travelling out of the way to buy ingredients at specialty stores. Yet, this does not mean that finding echoes of familial dishes is entirely impossible. “[Montreal] is different, but I can find [Kittian food] here. I [just] have to seek it out,” Queeley said. “You want to be able to find food that resonates to your home if you can, and I can find it, but it takes work.”

For Ananya Nair, U3 Arts, just because a dish is readily available does not mean it will live up to expectations. Growing up in Mumbai, Nair’s mom cooked dosa breakfasts every morning. Now that she lives in Montreal, finding South Indian food up to par with her mom’s home cooking is challenging.

“I don’t even try to eat [idlis] at restaurants because I know that my mom has this really weird technique that she uses so that they’re pillowy soft, [and she makes them] with an interesting texture,” Nair said. “I know that I actively avoid ordering idlis in Montreal just because I know that nobody [else] can get that perfection.”

The general busyness of student life in Montreal means that Nair only eats dosa from time to time now. Weighted with the memory of the past, it takes a regrettably significant amount of time and effort to reconnect with home-cooked fare that was once so readily available. As adults, we come to realize what we took for granted when we still lived in our family homes.

“I don’t have time to put in the effort and cook the way my mom used to cook,” Nair said. “So going back home is always such a privilege because I know that she wants to feed me and make these really good things [when I’m there].”

Preparing dosa is a fairly labour intensive process: To make the batter, rice and lentils need to be blended into a flour with a wet grinder and then fermented overnight. Cooking up sambar to serve with the dosa adds more steps and more ingredients that need to be processed before the batter is finally cooked on a griddle.

“If I tried really hard, I could make [dosa like that],” Nair said. “But you can buy ready-to-cook mixes for the flour used to make dosa. [However,] nothing does justice to a freshly cooked dosa with sambar and all the other things that go along with it.”

While the amount of work required to prepare dosa may deter those with busy schedules, several restaurants throughout the city specialize in serving dosa, along with other South Indian staples. Yet with the ongoing pandemic, dining in a restaurant is not currently a viable option and some entrees simply aren’t meant to be served from a styrofoam delivery container.

“A dosa cannot be had as a takeout when you do takeout, it’s like [the dosa] loses all its essence,” Nair said. “And so I don’t know what’s up, but I can’t find good dosa right now, and it’s making me generally a little sad.”

With people coming from all around the world to live in and visit Montreal, it is no surprise that the city plays host to a sizable food scene. On average, there is a restaurant for every 373 residents of the city. According to the 2016 census, immigrants make up 23.4 per cent of the Montreal metropolitan area’s population. Considering that this statistic excludes second- and third-generation immigrants and non-permanent residents of Canada, such as international students and migrant workers, the city’s demographics are even more cosmopolitan. Yet Montreal’s food culture does not adequately reflect this reality.

White restaurateurs continue to hold the lion’s share of resources in the food industry as a whole, and several restaurants recently set to open in the city have struggled to plate non-Western cooking without succumbing to cultural appropriation. The Tourisme Montreal website’s top posts about eating out in the city further emphasize microbreweries and French and Italian cuisine, with poutine, bagels, and smoked meat receiving special mention as the city’s “staples.” Serena Lisus-Reiter, U3 Arts, grew up in an Israeli and South African Jewish household in Toronto and found that moving to Montreal was underwhelming in this regard.

“You have so many more options of things to eat [in Toronto],” Lisus-Reiter said.

“I feel like there’s much more of a celebration of individual [national] cultures and individual ethnic cultures and cooking in Toronto than there is here [....] But the ‘good’ food here is mostly, like, French bistros or whatever.”

As a McGill student living in the Plateau, Lisus-Reiter generally stays within her neighbourhood. She finds that typically Jewish foods and ingredients are only available in more niche specialty stores.

“In a grocery store [or bakery] in Toronto, I could easily find a challah, but here I can’t find that anywhere that’s not specifically a kosher bakery,” Lisus-Reiter said.

There are plenty of kosher stores and Jewish businesses further north in the Mile End and Outremont, but it is no small irony that in the Plateau—which was once the bustling centre of Montreal’s Jewish immigrant communities—Jewish foodstuffs have become difficult to acquire. While establishments such as Schwartz’s Deli and Hof Kelsten maintain a visible Jewish presence in the Plateau, many classic restaurants that once held a steady place in the neighbourhood have gone. Moishes Steakhouse shuttered their location on Boulevard Saint-Laurent in May, and the Museum of Jewish Montreal’s Fletcher’s Cafe is closed indefinitely due to the pandemic. As the economic circumstances of living in Montreal continue to change, long-term residents of the neighbourhood have been priced out of the rental market, and the Plateau and the Mile End’s food scene has become increasingly mainstream over the decades.

Because Montreal is a major urban center, food for most people—whether in a restaurant or at the grocery store—is typically not locally sourced.

“I always tell my friends that the food [in Montreal] is grown different,” Queeley said. “Because [back] home, there is more organic nature. We see the boats come to the shore with the fish that was just caught out of the ocean. When I get fish here, it’s probably come a long way.”

Although it is not impossible to obtain fresh and locallysourced ingredients in Montreal, Queeley finds in general that ingredients in St. Kitts have a unique flavour.

“I do miss the things [that] we took for granted,” Queeley said. “Like if we wanted to do a goat stew, my mom knew somebody who was selling goats [...] or on Saturdays we’d go down to the market and the meat is right there [....] But I think the nature of [living on] a small island [is] being able to see where that food is coming from.”

While Montreal’s food scene can leave quite a bit to be desired, this does not prevent home cooks from embarking upon their own missions to recreate their family cooking traditions. Nair admits that she is not the greatest cook when it comes to South Indian cuisine, but sometimes she’ll add podi—a dry spice powder that her mother and grandmother give her boxes of every time she is back in Mumbai—to make dosas from ready-to-cook mixes passable. For Queeley, barbecue cooking brings back memories of seeing and smelling the smoke from grilled meats that hung in the air in St. Kitts year-round. Lisus-Reiter has worked on perfecting her grandfather’s signature cardamom chicken curry over the years.

“When he would make it [...] everybody would be like, ‘Oh, papa’s making curry’ and everyone would get really excited, and it would be a really special event,” Lisus-Reiter said. “Since he died, I think I’m the only person in my family who’s been remaking it [after] my grandma gave me the recipe.”

Although Lisus-Reiter confesses that she cannot make the curry taste quite like her grandfather could, the memories associated with the dish itself never change.

“Every time I make it, sometimes I put way too much of something or not enough of something else,” Lisus-Reiter said. “But even if the taste is off, the smell is always the same. It’s always cardamom, and it always reminds me of [my grandpa].”

Being a university student often implies relying on a ramen noodle diet—and budget. However, taking the time to make food that is special to us can revive memories of past people and places, bringing them back into our present. While moving away from the family home can be a rite of passage, so too is learning to cook for yourself. Once you take the time to find your niche in Montreal, developing your cooking style might help to one day share the passion and care given to the dishes of your own childhood with your loved ones now and in the future.

“The fact [is] that I am replicating some of [the food my mom used to cook] and keeping that culture and those practices and those customs alive. For me, it’s great,” Queeley said. “I think as any parent, you want your kids to eat, but it feels good when they actually like the stuff that you’re cooking.”

Design: Chloe Rodriguez / The McGill Tribune

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Where do I begin: 5-Minute Crafts

A dive into the uncanny valley of DIY videos Vanessa Barron Arts & Entertainment Editor No contemporary filmmaker has captured the absurdity and fragmentation of our postmodern condition better than 5-Minute Crafts (5MC). The YouTube channel and Facebook page are best known for producing short video compilations of “life hacks,” typically named something along the lines of “Brilliant hacks and crafts for your home that you’ll want to try right away!”

Although this description may sound innocuous, viewers will quickly find that these hacks are, at best, an inspiration for better DIY projects, and at worst, simply unhinged. For example, in the aforementioned video, 5MC recommends tucking in bedsheets with a spatula, turning a plant pot into a fully functioning sink, and using a drill to clean glassware. But as bizarre and impractical as these videos are, I can’t help but watch them in their entirety every time. Like their 90 million Facebook followers and 69 million Youtube subscribers, I am completely and utterly engrossed by the absurdity of 5MC’s DIY transformations.

The channel Believe it or not, 5MC videos are not made by aliens who are poorly attempting to replicate human activities and hobbies. The channel is owned by TheSoul Publishing, a studio based in Cyprus, and the company produces over 500 original videos each month. The strategy of quantity over quality works well with social media algorithms, making 5MC currently the fifth most-subscribed channel on YouTube.

With this in mind, it’s no wonder the team at

5-Minute Crafts is fifth most-subscribed channel on YouTube. (youtube.com) TheSoul continues to churn out increasingly crazier DIY ideas—all of their feasible ideas were used up long ago.

The name of the channel itself is mysterious—I have no idea where the “5-Minute” part comes from. The length of the videos range from three to 15 minutes, and crafts like making an epoxy table or an edible coffee mug take much longer than five minutes to make. Much like the breakneck speed at which the crafts are presented, the “5-minute” idea rejects realism and the idea of linear time in favour of simplicity and productivity.

The videos Most 5MC videos use a point-of-view shot from the perspective of the anonymous life-hacker. This format is commonly associated with cooking channels like Tasty and beauty channels like MetDaan. I’d venture to guess that this format’s popularity on social media lies in the feeling of personal productivity that is evoked by merely watching the video.

You might be goofing off during a lecture and

scrolling on Facebook, but at least you’re learning how to make a lamp out of ping pong balls in the meantime!

My favorite part of the 5MC video is the short skits that come before the crafts, particularly common in their “sewing” videos. They usually play out something like this: A girl spills wine all over her shirt, so she makes a face, wags her finger at the camera, then proceeds to cut up the shirt—while she’s wearing it!—to create a hideous off-the-shoulder crop top. As much as I love seeing the final result of these crimes against clothing, I appreciate 5MC’s attention to plot and character.

The experience

Night at the Museum: Ekphrasis Workshop Explores scenes and works of art with McSWAY. Nov. 12, 6 p.m.

Online Free

Zine-Making Workshop with Joey Ramona and Jess Goldman (and Digital Diasporas) Discussion between artists and zine launch for: “New Ways of Worship.”

Oddly enough, I have never actively sought out to watch a 5MC video. I don’t subscribe to their YouTube channel, and I haven’t liked them on Facebook, yet these videos constantly appear on my timeline. This is probably due to the algorithms of social media websites, but then again, I actually watch the full videos every time. They appeal to my short attention span, seeking instant gratification through endless scrolling, but the content itself resonates on a larger scale of our culture of productivity and efficiency. 5MC could be read as a covert parody of the neo-liberal idea of maximizing productivity and capital, wasting no materials or time in an attempt to be endlessly thrifty and useful. The videos show you supposedly practical ways to recycle and save money, but making a chair out of egg cartons rather than simply buying a new chair is an awe-inspiring level of insanity. The resulting feeling of disgust and wonder at this absurd spectacle is well worth the watch.

Nov. 12, 4:30 p.m.

Online Free (ticket required)

Indian Bengali Association of Montreal: Online Durga Puja event Come celebrate the annual Hindu festival of Durga Puja! There will be live performances.

Nov. 14, 8:30 p.m. and Nov 15th, 8:00 p.m Online Free

Michel Tremblay Book Signing

French Canadian Novelist Michel Tremblay will be at Librairie Paulines to meet readers and sign copies of his new book, “Victoire!”

Nov. 14, 2 p.m.

Librairie Paulines Free

Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre takes theatrical activism to the radio TNC’s first production bridges international conflict with personal trauma Michelle Siegel Contributor Continued from page 1.

Odette becomes determined to share Sahana’s stories with the world, no matter the cost.

Each act of the play was approximately an hour long, broken into a Thursday evening performance of Act I, followed by a Friday matinee performance of Act II. While the auditory medium of radio had the potential to alienate actors and audiences, the cast successfully adapted to the format. The pacing of the recording felt natural, and the use of sound effects greatly enhanced the listening experience for viewers.

The narrator, voiced by Max Clark, U3 Arts, grounded the play’s context and made the transitions and settings of the show easier to understand.

State of Denial deftly examined the heavy material of state-sanctioned mass murders and genocides.

The production did an excellent job of addressing grave topics by effectively balancing the necessary facts and the nuanced emotions of the

characters and story, providing the right amount of information without feeling like a textbook history lesson. Couture excellently wove together the plays’ myriad of narratives. Although Odette’s actions spur the plot progression, it is her close relationship with Sahana that changes the course of both of their lives and the emotional centre of the play. The similarities in the characters’ experiences are slowly revealed, bridging the individual gaps between the Armenian and Rwandan genocides to reach a larger theme of shared experiences of trauma.

Though State of Denial relies on specific historical narratives, the play does not simply act as an educational lesson: Its ability to maintain a strong narrative structure through Couture’s direction and the efforts of the cast creates an emotionally resonant core.

In dealing with such serious topics, the production respectfully navigated its subject matter for both the performers and the audience. In one scene, Sahana tells Odette the story of an Armenian girl named Sinam, who had experienced first-

The title of the show, “State of Denial,” comes from the underlying motif in the play of virtually all characters hiding different truths in different ways. (Eve Cable / The McGill Tribune) hand the horrors of the genocide and the lack of accountability taken for it by the Turkish government. Sinam’s story is extremely heartbreaking and graphic, with the narrator giving a trigger warning in the middle of the scene. This interruption did not disrupt the flow of the show, and provided needed context for the audience’s wellbeing. Despite taking

place far away from the other contexts of the play, the raw and brutal truth of Sinam’s story resonates equally with the other characters and the audience.

The denial alluded in the play’s title becomes apparent as audiences listen to all the characters shielding different truths in different ways.

From the state ignorance and vio-

lence that allow for genocides to occur, to the evasions and ignorance over individual identities, practically everyone in the play denies something about themselves. The show cautions against this notion, demonstrating that the only way to genuinely move forward from horror and tragedy is to be internally and externally truthful.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

11

Gliding, bat-winged dinosaurs surprise scientists

New insights into two species of theropod complicate the history of flight Margaret Wdowiak Staff Writer When most people picture flying dinosaurs, they picture beasts like pterodactyls and the pterosaurs. Although iconic to fossils of the Jurassic period, these flying reptiles were not dinosaurs at all, but instead a distant dinosaur cousin called archosaurs that flapped their forelimbs to achieve flight. However, scientists have recently found evidence of another type of flight that is unique to just two species of dinosaurs. A hundred and sixty million years ago, strange bat-like dinosaurs glided across the canopy of prehistoric forests: These creatures were Yi and Ambopteryx.

In a new study, an international team of researchers sought to determine whether gliding and powered flight were possible for these winged dinosaurs. The researchers scanned Yi and Ambopteryx fossils using laser-stimulated fluorescence imaging.

This technique uses highly amplified light to identify soft tissue details of wing membranes that are invisible when conducting ultraviolet light analysis, the standard imaging practice in the field.

Yi and Ambopteryx were scansoriopterygid theropods that lived 160 million years ago during the middle to late Jurassic period, in an area that is modern-day China. Scansoriopterygidae were a family of bizarre arboreal and semiarboreal theropods with an enlarged fourth digit. Yi and Ambopteryx were not large, weighing only half a kilogram and living

For the past 66 million years, birds have been the only living dinosaurs.

(Taja de Silva / The McGill Tribune)

on a diet of insects, seeds, and plants. Their membranous wings, similar to those of bats, were formed from the webbed skin between their elongated fingers.

From their imaging results, the team, which included Dr. Hans Larsson, Director of McGill’s Redpath Museum, used mathematical models to predict the dinosaurs’ flight and gliding capabilities.

The predictions were based on the dinosaurs’ weight, wingspan, wing shape, and muscle placement. Researchers concluded that Yi and Ambopteryx were incapable of powered flight.

“The results are clear,” Larsson said in an interview with McGill Newsroom. “These

animals were not able to fly like birds. They didn’t have adaptations to even get close to the physical thresholds for powered flight, but their weird membranous wings do give them enough of an aerofoil to have glided.”

The study found that these creatures had severe deficiencies in flapping-based locomotion and limited gliding abilities, suggesting that they were, at best, only able to clumsily glide between trees.

To achieve gliding, Yi and Ambopteryx would have had to first climb to an elevated position. As such, it is unlikely that their proto-flying abilities evolved to escape predators on the ground.

“They are not comparable to living

gliding squirrels or lizards, but seem to have come up with a really novel way of getting a large enough wing membrane,” Larsson said.

Unable to compete with other arboreal archosaurs and early birds, both species are predicted to have become extinct after just a few million years. Despite being a relatively short-lived species, Yi and Ambopteryx’s gliding abilities have important implications for the evolution of flight. Indeed, they represent a unique, but failed, evolutionary experiment, suggesting that dynamic and complex evolutionary pressures were acting upon dinosaurs in the middle to late Jurassic period. Moreover, this failed mode of flight does not correspond to early models of flight evolution in birds: The wings of these species are structurally distinct from those of other flying dinosaurs, which indicates multiple independent origins of flight.

“We used to think of birds evolving as a linear trend from their ground-dwelling dinosaur ancestry,” Larsson said. “We can now revise this textbook scenario to one that had an explosive diversity of experimentation, with dinosaurs evolving powered flight several times independently.”

The researchers’ discovery suggests that there is a lot more to learn about the evolution of flight, and that widelyheld assumptions about evolution can be susceptible to change. According to Larsson, when it comes to figuring out the origins of flight, evolutionary scientists are still just scratching the surface.

New study highlights differences in vaccination policies worldwide Vaccination mandates and penalties are not applied equally between countries Madison McLauchlan Staff Writer Vaccination is arguably the most successful public health tool ever developed, virtually eliminating diseases like smallpox and polio from the viral landscape. The current COVID-19 public health crisis has pushed vaccine research efforts into overdrive, as scientists race to find multiple different formulas to grant the world immunity.

However, the worldwide eradication of COVID-19 will depend on the accessibility of these vaccines, as well as public trust in their safety and necessity.

A recent McGill study published in the aptly named scientific journal Vaccine detailed the wide variation in vaccination policy across 193 different countries. Notably, only 52 per cent of countries have a mandatory vaccination policy. Of the countries that do have vaccine mandates, only 59 per cent penalize those who do not comply.

Nicole Basta, associate professor in McGill’s Department of Epidemiology and senior author of the paper, says that vaccination policies must be re-examined in the context of COVID19.

“Achieving and maintaining high

Eighty-one per cent of countries that implement vaccine mandates ban children from attending school until they are vaccinated. (CTV News) vaccination coverage globally is of critical importance, now more than ever,” Basta wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “We have vaccines to prevent many other diseases, yet vaccine uptake is not high enough to prevent outbreaks in many countries.”

Most traditional vaccinations coerce the immune system to produce antibodies against a dead or weakened form of a given virus. When an individual encounters that pathogen later on, the body is already equipped with the tools to fight back. Yet, there are

other types of vaccine formulations, including “protein subunit,” that expose the immune system to a protein fragment instead of a whole-cell virus.

Vaccine hesitancy, which forms the ideology of the “anti vaxxer” movement, has been ranked as a top 10 global health threat by the World Health Organization. Far-right conspiracy theories, a lack of health education, and dismal rates of scientific literacy have led to a rise in skepticism of vaccine safety. These shortfalls in public education have real consequences.

In 2019, Europe experienced an alarming surge in measles cases related to the growing influence of anti-vaxxer sentiment.

“It is important to determine if and to what degree incentivizing, disincentivizing, or a combination of both tactics leads to higher vaccination coverage and greater trust in vaccines,” Katie Gravagna, lead author of the study, wrote in an email to the Tribune.

Penalties for not vaccinating children can range from small fines to, at worst, surrendering parental custody.

Further research must determine what kinds of penalties—harsh or lenient, financial or educational—are most effective for increasing compliance with public vaccination programs.

The study delves into non-compliance penalties and the differences in their severity throughout the world.

Offenders in Brazil and Argentina are subject to $1,000 fines, the harshest in South America. It is not a coincidence that these countries lead the continent in immunization rates for measles and rubella.

Despite governmental efforts, access to vaccines remains constrained for poor and marginalized communities who have been hit harder by the

COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Australia’s “No Jab, No Pay” law rules that tax benefits can be withheld from families who have not vaccinated their children. Meant to target vaccine-hesitant people, this mandate puts economic stress on migrant and low-income families while only minimally promoting vaccinations.

“Many countries have achieved high vaccine uptake with mandates in place, and many have achieved high uptake without the implementation of mandatory vaccination policies,” Basta wrote.

Indeed, punishing offenders is not the only way to increase vaccination rates—countries such as Canada and Bangladesh maintain a high rate of uptake in the population without penalties, but rather through increased access and education.

Research on vaccination policy will help the scientific community gain a better understanding of what vaccination infrastructure is lacking in different countries. When a COVID-19 vaccine is ready for distribution—whenever that may be—studying the best ways to ensure a high rate of uptake will be crucial to safeguarding global public health.

12

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

New research centre to usher in the era of digital democracy Max Bell launches the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy

Shafaq Nami Staff Writer In an age of increased globalization, social media makes it easy for people to voice their opinions online, discuss issues, organize around causes, and hold leaders accountable. However, media and technology have a tendency to amplify both positive and negative trends in contemporary discourse. In recent years, media technologies, and social media in particular, have progressed to a point where they have started to undermine democracy.

McGill’s Max Bell School of Public Policy recently launched the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy to combat threats to democracy through research and public debate about how media and technology affect social systems and shape public policies.

Threats to democracy include fake news, user privacy breaches, influence campaigns, “bots,” and the growth of information cocoons.

These can lead to an increase in media fragmentation, political polarization, and, in the worst cases, extremism. Despite having access

to huge amounts of knowledge at their fingertips, most people live in an information cocoon—interacting only with a limited number of people online who tend to share the same views. These social media “bubbles” can become ideological echo chambers reverberating with the same types of online content and opinions, regardless of their veracity, to the exclusion of a diversity of ideas. As such, those in power and with large online platforms can use media and technology to set agendas and spread hate and disinformation.

“The kinds of democratic harms we see arising today—from mis- and disinformation to political polarization and election interference [...] are not the result of ‘bad actors,’ they are baked into our tech infrastructure, and into our social investments and institutions,” Sonja Solomun, the Research Director of the Centre, wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune.

The Centre is run by a team of researchers and journalists who are committed to changing how the public receives online media. They hope to bring about lasting structural change through the design of new

The Centre will be leading a monthly reading group throughout 2021, inviting the authors of the article or book they read for Q&A sessions. (Centre for Media,Technology, and Democracy) technologies and economic models to foster accountable governance, and are thus attempting to rebuild and reimagine digital infrastructure in the public interest.

“I joined [the Centre] because this is public-facing work that directly speaks to the communities and groups that are most affected by the kinds of harms we see arising,” Solomun wrote. “At the end of the day, I firmly believe in the power of the public to mobilize for a different future, and to hold govern-

ments and technology companies to account for that future.”

The team is currently working on several projects. One of these is Tech-Informed Policy (TIP), an initiative to inform policy makers by explaining the implications of new technologies and their social consequences. They are also developing an essay series to examine how surveillance technologies deployed by public institutions and governments during the pandemic are disproportionately affecting historically sur-

veilled populations, like low-wage workers and racialized groups.

The Centre is planning to hold events for students and the public.

Aside from a monthly reading group, they are also hosting the Annual Beaverbrook Lecture, a two-part virtual event on abolishing surveillance capitalism.

In the future, the Centre is planning to support and amplify other initiatives working on issues of democracy and technology.

“A more democratic future for me is one where we value collective human life over property,” Solomun wrote. “That means thinking of technology––be it AI, data, or even things like privacy, as a possibility or as a relationship, rather than a commodity or as property. Once we depart from this premise, we can reimagine how we build, use, and govern these possibilities in ways that enrich collective life and public institutions.”

If you are interested in learning more about the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, their research, future events, and other resources, visit their website and subscribe to their newsletter.

Data scientists seek the perfect picture of a whale

Montreal AI start-up analyzes marine images for ecological research Matthew Hawkins Contributor For most Quebec residents, whale watching is a special occasion. For Whale Seeker, a Montreal-based artificial intelligence (AI) developer, it’s everyday business. To meet the needs of ecological research, Whale Seeker uses cuttingedge AI technologies to detect marine mammals with imaging methods that can be delivered as quickly and as easily as possible. Fast and simple whale tracking is vital to helping governments and environmental organizations develop fishing quotas and manage shipping lanes.

Co-founded by biologists Emily Charry Tissier and Bertrand Charry and software designer Antoine Gagné-Turcotte, the very heart of Whale Seeker lies in the combination of biology and AI. Tissier and Charry had previously worked together in visually analyzing images of whales for the World Wildlife Fund. Usually done by hand, this process was tedious and time-consuming.

Tisser and Charry were frustrated by the lack of widely available software to make their analysis easier. Tissier met the third future co-founder and software developer Gagné-Turcotte by chance, and the three founded the company. Whale Seeker has since added five more members, including specialists in unmanned aerial vehicles, remote sensing, and water quality.

Software developed by Whale Seeker can automate the process of image filtration by searching through and identifying

Whale Seeker uses cameras mounted to the bottom of aircrafts to capture images of whales.

(Eve Cable / The McGill Tribune)

images that contain whales from aerial or satellite footage. Adding to this automatic image analysis and sorting, which on its own can cut weeks or months of work, Whale Seeker’s AI can also generate heat maps, along with plot data. These tools permit clients to observe patterns in whale movement, helping them create models that allow whales and humans to coexist better.

Despite these incredibly useful tools, ethics remain a major concern in AI, especially when it comes to marketing a company at the forefront of AI development. Whale Seeker maintains that their products are to be used for good.

“Whale Seeker was created to provide cutting edge solutions for detect-

ing marine mammals from imagery, delivered as fast and easy as possible,” the company wrote in a statement on their website. “We do not support our work being used for whaling, illegal fishing, skirting other environmental laws and regulations, and other activities we perceive as going against our core values.”

The blog section of Whale Seeker’s website also includes several articles on the ethics of AI, addressing both the issues of privacy violation and inequalities in the workplace, as well as the potential benefits that AI presents.

Above all, they stress the need for regulation in the world of AI development.

Whale Seeker also emphasizes their

commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the United Nations. These include actively seeking to hire women in STEM to ensure gender equality and gender empowerment.

To create a sustainable economy, Whale Seeker dedicates much of its research to environmentally-friendly solutions that not only can solve the shortterm needs of their clients but also ensure an ongoing positive impact on the natural world. Actors such as oil companies are mandated to track whales in order to regulate their environmental impact, and more efficient analysis and data plotting will make that much more effective. In keeping with their commitment to combating climate change, Whale Seeker uses drones and satellites to capture footage.

Unmanned aerial vehicles like drones use fewer fossil fuels than traditional methods of data collection. Not only do methods like motor boats have higher emission levels, they can also create disturbances underwater, potentially harming marine life. Studying marine biology and ecology is key to effective climate action. Human actions above the ocean’s surface have great impacts below it.

Whale Seeker’s impact stretches beyond the immediate world of whale watching and into the larger ecosystem of marine biology and climate action in STEM research. Through customdeveloped AI, Whale Seeker’s novel methods of data analysis aim to create a more equal and sustainable world.

STUDENT LIFE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

13

McGill students react to the U.S. presidential election

The McGill community waited alongside the rest of the world in anticipation Maya Mau Staff Writer Continued from page 1.

I’ve seen how polarized the [United States] has been and seeing this change was a bit unexpected.”

Many Canadian students at McGill were invested in the results of the election. Mominah Malik, U0 Arts, is Canadian, but believes that the United States’ election outcome will reverberate across the world. “[The United States] is a major country, economically and socially and in many other different ways,” Malik said. “So the politics within the country [are] extremely important and will impact future relations between the [United States] and other countries, which [in turn] will affect how other countries go on.”

In the Fall 2020 semester, McGill welcomed 2,210 international students from the United States. Rachel Kalmanovich, U3 Arts and president of Democrats Abroad at McGill, helped many American McGill students send in their ballots from Montreal.

“I think that this election is one of the most important of our time,” Kalmanovich said. “The next president will not only be overseeing a worldwide pandemic, but also the post-pandemic economic recovery. In addition, they will likely be charged with choosing at least one Supreme Court justice.”

Lily Mackey, U0 Arts and a dual Canadian-American citizen, was also involved with the election, interning with Andy Kim’s congressional campaign in New Jersey’s third district. She believes that U.S. citizens underestimate the impact of the election on the rest of the world.

“Having citizenship elsewhere, I am fully aware that any election in America is not just affecting America,” Mackey said.

“In the [United States], a lot of people have the mentality that their choices and what happens within the American government [are] just relevant to them, but that is just so far from the truth.”

Other American McGill students were not actively involved in

The 2020 U.S. presidential election saw many faithful Republicans cross party lines to support a Democratic candidate.

(Brian Schatteman / The McGill Tribune) campaigns, but were still invested in the results. Jackson Hejtmanek, U0 Sciences, is an American citizen living in Montreal who missed eligibility to vote by one day due to his birthday.

“I barely noticed that I was in Canada because everyone was still interested [in the election],” Hejtmanek said. “I feel like I should have done something other than the occasional Instagram story though, and I feel slightly guilty about that.”

Nathaniel Saad, U1 Management, is Canadian but has family living in the United States. On Nov. 2 he spoke about the election on CBC Radio’s “Let’s Go” with Sabrina Marandola and predicted that there would be a lot of unrest in the wake of results being declared.

“I think no matter who wins, we can expect some chaos in the days following the results,” Saad said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Canada will be affected by this outcome whether it’s in the forms of tariffs, international security, or simply human rights.”

Despite warnings that the nation might not know the winner until mid-December, most major news outlets announced Biden as president-elect on Nov. 7. For many students, this was a relief.

“I just feel more satisfied with the world now that it’s official and excited to see what comes next,” Hejtmanek said. “I would consider myself fairly left[-leaning politically], but I’m still optimistic about his time in office.”

Syrian Students’ Association to host art auction for COVID-19 relief Upcoming auction aims to raise awareness about the effects of the pandemic in Syria Wendy Zhao Staff Writer Already devastated by war, recovering from massive forest fires, and facing an economic crisis, Syria is now preparing for a second wave of COVID-19. To support Syria, the McGill Syrian Students’ Association (SSA) is hosting Peace of Art for COVID on Nov. 14, a virtual art auction to raise money

to purchase basic necessities and medical supplies. Resources will be delivered in collaboration with Saeed Society, a non-profit organization working in Syrian provinces to deliver aid to those in need. The auction will be conducted via Facebook Live and will feature a wide range of artwork by artists from Syria and Montreal.

In the Syrian capital, Damascus, estimates show that only one in 80 deaths caused by COVID-19

The art auction will support the Saaed Society’s work on the ground in Syria. (syriaartasso.com)

have been reported. Due to limited testing capacity, the true extent of transmission has been obscured by unreliable statistics. Sarah Al Ani, U3 Education and SSA President, explained the Association’s objective to inform people of the realities Syrians are experiencing.

“One of our main goals is to raise awareness of the pandemic in Syria and how people can help,” Al Ani said. “[Syria] is facing an economic crisis and basic necessities are unavailable, but I don’t see much coverage on the pandemic in the Middle East.”

The money raised will support the efforts of Saaed Society, who are providing Syrian communities with medical supplies including oxygen concentrators and masks.

Because of the ongoing civil conflict, northwest Syria lacks access to clean water, hygiene, and sanitation—fundamental resources for the prevention of COVID-19. In addition, the country’s authorities are failing to protect health workers in hospitals filled beyond capacity and facing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Further, the distribution of PPE and supplies is often discriminatory.

Due to the risk of inequitable distribution, the SSA team was

careful in selecting the organization to collaborate with. Al Ani explained that the SSA valued Saeed’s Society integrity.

“We wanted to work with an NGO who works on the ground in Syria,” Al Ani said. “We care about transparency in the process and really wanted to have a personal connection with the organization.”

For the SSA, art also plays an essential role in their mission to garner support for Syria. Drawing on her personal experience in teaching, Al Ani discussed art’s power in creating empathy and understanding.

“I think art is a form of expression,” Al Ani said. “I’m an education student, and I was trying to teach my fourth-year students about the Syrian War but the resources we have are often very graphic [....] It’s hard for someone who can’t relate to it. With art, you can tell a story of [issues] that are difficult to articulate.”

The artists donating their works encompass a wide range of experiences and mediums, from poetry to resin. Many are professional artists and are members of the Association pour la Promotion de l’Art Contemporain Syrien, an organization working

to boost the influence of the Syrian art scene internationally.

Other artists donating works are local Montrealers and students.

Khaled Youssef, a French Syrian photographer and poet, explained that his work revolves around presenting an alternate view of the world, capturing it through the lens of bubbles and poetry. Randa Hijazi’s canvases and art furniture explore the loss of empathy through colourful expressions, while Frédéric Daty uses metal and light to create sculptures conveying constant evolvement.

What unites multiple artists are the diverse stories they tell of Syrian culture, war, and displacement; together, their work deepens the public’s understanding of the country.

“Many people associate Syria with the war, but there’s so much culture that isn’t seen,” Al Ani said. “Many of our artists show the beauty of Syria before the war. It helps change the narrative. Syria is more than just the war, it’s a country with rich culture and history.”

Peace of Art for Covid will take place on Nov. 14 over Facebook Live. SSA will also be accepting donations through FundRazr.

14 STUDENT LIFE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

Staying healthy and keeping active with McGill Athletics and Recreation

McGill Fitness Center offers free online fitness classes to students hunkered down at home Maya Mau Staff Writer Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the McGill Fitness Center is adapting to provide students with as many activities and services as they can. Students living in Montreal can still reserve spots to play tennis, badminton, basketball (at one person per basket), run on the track, and swim laps. McGill Athletics and Recreation is tackling the issue of a geographically dispersed student body and remains committed to providing all members of the McGill community, wherever they may be located, with the resources they need to stay physically active.

Among the individuals working to provide in-person and remote activities are Perry Karnofsky, manager of the Recreation Program, and Sarah Canzer, Head of Communications and Engagement.

“We wanted to make sure that—even if remotely—we were still able to contribute to the overall health of our students,” Karnofsky and Canzer wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune.

“The science behind the correlation between physical and mental health

The McGill Fitness Center is offering a variety of online fitness classes to serve a geographically dispersed student population. (getomnify.com) continues to pour in, and we want to make sure that outlets to relieve stress and stay healthy remain readily available to our students.”

In response to restrictions on in-person events, McGill Athletics and Recreation now offers fitness classes via Zoom. These classes are designed so that minimal equipment and space are required, increasing accessibility for students in small

residence rooms or apartments.

Adjustment to the online format has presented instructors with some challenges. Leena Struzina, a second-year chemical engineering master’s student, went from teaching Hatha yoga twice a week to leading a yoga powerflow class once a week.

“The online format was a hard adjustment at first as you aren’t

able to see the students and make modifications to the class based on their level of yoga,” Struzina wrote in an email to the Tribune. “I’ve gotten used to going in depth on the explanations of each pose to make sure that everyone can follow along with class.”

Each week’s schedule offers a variety of classes to keep students engaged and adventurous in their physical health. From yoga and pilates to tabata, a form of high intensity interval training, and boot camps, the wide variety of classes offered is a testament to the diversity of the instructors’ backgrounds.

“As someone who never did yoga in the past, it is a wonderful workout and has proven to be a great way to de-stress for 45 minutes,” Karnofsky wrote.

Approximately 15 classes are offered each week, from Mondays through Thursdays. For those who live in other time zones or are unable to attend the live session, videos are organized into playlists and uploaded to the McGill Athletics YouTube channel.

Many on-campus services used trial and error to find a remote system that works, and McGill Athletics and Recreation is no

exception.

“Being our first venture into the virtual domain, the learning curve regarding the technical aspects has been steep,” Karnofsky and Canzer wrote. “As with all of our programs, we try to deliver the best product possible for the McGill community.

We are constantly looking to improve—whether it be the video, the sound, or the instruction.”

McGill Athletics and Recreation believes that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. The way in which staff are working tirelessly to continue supporting student well-being during these tumultuous times speaks to the strength of the department. The improvements since the beginning of the pandemic have not gone unnoticed by instructors.

“McGill Athletics has really improved the quality of the classes by adding a music extension to the Zoom classes,” Struzina wrote. “They also added a video camera attached to the laptop which improves audio/video quality and allows the teachers to see themselves and other students on screen. This helps in giving corrections to students who may have their camera on.”

Global Health Night fosters discussions for a better future

The evening featured virtual poster sessions and a lecture Josephine Wang Staff Writer The McGill Global Health Program’s (GHP) 15th annual Global Health Night, held on Nov. 2, brought together students and faculty members for an evening celebration, recognizing McGill’s involvement in international health-related fields. The night’s programming highlighted student research and featured keynote speaker professor Senait Fisseha, the Director of Global Programs at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation as well as the Chief Advisor to the Director-General of the World Health Organization.

As with previous years, the night began with a poster fair. Since this year’s event was moved to an online platform, attendees were able to join virtual breakout rooms where McGill students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows presented their research. There were over 50 simultaneous breakout poster sessions that covered a variety of global health topics such as COVID-19, HIV/ AIDS, and malnutrition. The poster session illustrated the interdisciplinary nature of the global health field, as presenters tied together a variety of topics, such as medicine, public health, economics, and political science.

After the poster fair, Fisseha gave a relevant and timely lecture addressing the vast asymmetry of power and privilege that permeates every aspect of global health. In her speech, Fisseha emphasized how the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with worldwide racial injustice, has sharpened the focus on the intersectional disparities in global health. Key

The virtual event featured University of Michigan professor Senait Fisseha as a keynote speaker.

(Ruobing Chen / The McGill Tribune) issues included racial inequalities and exclusion based on citizenship, gender, and other identities.

Fisseha addressed McGill students, urging them to find ways to use their positions of power and privilege to change the oppressive structures that currently shape the field.

“We are at a pivotal and urgent moment

of uprising and reckoning,” Fisseha said. “How will you use your power to call out single stories, dismantle harmful norms, and reconcile the colonial history in global health? [Right] now, we have a very unique and historic opportunity to accelerate transformation [....] I urge you to seize this moment and to challenge the system in

which you live and work.”

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, GHP’s Senior Administrative Coordinator Stéphanie Laroche-Pierre, Interim Director Dr. Charles Larson, and Global Health Program Manager Kevin O’Neill explained how Global Health Night has evolved throughout the years by becoming more inclusive to the entire McGill community. “[In the beginning], Global Health Night was an opportunity to reach out to students, [and it] was an event focussed on curriculum, development, and educating medical students and health personnel students,” Larson said.

“Now, it is much more than that. It’s a campus wide event where we want to reach out and create a sense of community at McGill among those who are interested in global health.”

With the event being held virtually this year, the coordinators had to adapt their strategies to create an engaging online experience, which has informed a new vision for future Global Health Nights.

“The aim [of Global Health Night] is to create awareness of the fantastic work that students are doing [...] and display it to the rest of the McGill community,” Larson said. “[In the future], we are planning on a hybrid event, both in-person and virtual.”

With over 450 participants from around the world, Global Health Night successfully highlighted the important work of McGill’s students and staff. Additionally, it allowed for a moment of reckoning, calling on both students and faculty to acknowledge the sensitive issues permeating the field of global health.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

15

2020 NBA free agency predictions

The shortest off-season ever could see major moves from big names Adam Menikefs, Maya Mau & Adam Burton Staff Writers and Sports Editor With the NBA restarting its season on Dec. 22, this will be the shortest NBA offseason of all time. Because of the compressed free agency period, teams are likely to make bold roster changes in the coming weeks in an effort to become championship contenders in 2021. Here are The McGill Tribune’s predictions for NBA free agency maneuvers in the 2020 off-season.

Anthony Davis stays with the Los Angeles Lakers After his first championship and an All-NBA First Team regular season campaign, Anthony Davis will most likely remain in southern California for the time being. However, because of the significant financial hit COVID-19 caused the NBA, Davis will most likely decide on a shortterm deal, in the range of two to three years.

If Davis remains, he and LeBron James will look to establish another Lakers dynasty, cementing their legacy among the ranks of other famous Laker duos such as Kobe and Shaq, or Magic and Kareem.

Demar Derozan to the Brooklyn Nets Former Raptors All-Star Demar Derozan was traded to San Antonio just two seasons ago, and it seems like his time there may be coming to an end. The storied Spurs franchise has struggled after two decades of excellence that included five championships, and is continuing to rebuild following the recent departure of multiple Hall-of-Famers. Despite his player option to remain in San Antonio for another year, Derozan’s best chance to compete for a championship would be to join the newly formed powerhouse in the Brooklyn Nets. A “Big Three” of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Derozan would certainly cement the Steve Nash-coached team as a favourite in the Eastern Conference to challenge the defending champions.

Chris Paul Traded to the Philadelphia 76ers In what would be the blockbuster deal of the off-season, future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul could get moved to the City of Brotherly Love. Paul has never made the NBA Finals in his illustrious career, and a move to the 76ers would significantly improve his chances of doing so. In order to complete the trade, the 76ers would most likely have to give up rookie Matisse Thybulle, Al Horford, and draft picks. This would certainly be worth the risk, however, as Philadelphia has failed to proceed past the second round of the playoffs with their current core of All-Stars which includes Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Although the meshing of ball-dominant players like Simmons and Paul could be difficult, former Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni is now an assistant coach with the 76ers and will understand how to utilize Paul, his former point guard in Houston.

New “Big Three” combinations across the league could come from the 2020 off-season. (CBS Sports) Fred VanVleet to the New York Knicks Fred VanVleet is one of Toronto’s biggest stars and a core member of the 2019 NBA championship-winning team.

However, if the Raptors are unable to re-sign VanVleet, the New York Knicks could build a championship contending team with one of the league’s best guards. This would be a heartbreak for Raptors fans across Canada, but New York, whose historic franchise is in the midst of a decades-long drought, is one of the NBA’s biggest basketball markets and could offer VanVleet a bigger deal than their rivals. The former Wichita State guard would bring championship pedigree to a young Knicks roster, and serve as a solid starting combo guard to vastly improve the team’s defence and shooting.

Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat Back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably the biggest talent in the league today. With his contract ending in 2021, Milwaukee will likely be looking to trade Antetokounmpo away if it looks like he wants to leave the organization before next summer. The Miami Heat, who eliminated Antetokounmpo’s Bucks in the 2020 Eastern Conference semi-final, have shown interest in improving their already championship-contending team. However, in order to acquire Antetokounmpo, the Heat will likely have to give up a valuable player,

such as up-and-coming Tyler Herro. With Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, and Jimmy Butler, the Heat would have a “Big Three” to rival their legendary LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh trifecta of the early 2010s.

Carmelo Anthony back to the New York Knicks After spending six years with the New York Knicks, Carmelo Anthony hopped from Oklahoma City to Houston and is now in Portland with the Trail Blazers. However, Portland might not be able to offer the 10-time All-Star a deal to his liking. As mentioned before, the New York Knicks are looking to end their bottom-of-the-conference streak and have the finances to convince Carmelo Anthony to return to the city where he grew up. Though Anthony is no longer in his prime, he has the name recognition that the Knicks seek. This would allow Portland to free up cap space and give Anthony and the Knicks a mutually beneficial agreement.

Danillo Gallinari to the Miami Heat Power Forward Danillo Gallinari is more valuable than he’s ever been. As a career 38 per cent three-point shooter and consistent offensive threat, Gallinari is the most valuable trade chip the Oklahoma City Thunder have right now. With Chris Paul on his way out, the Thunder will likely be undergoing a complete overhaul to rebuild

their team with a young core. As a 32-yearold, Gallinari doesn’t fit this vision for the future and seems to know it; reports of his ties to the Miami Heat have run rampant in the last few weeks, as they have sought to add him to their roster in the past. The addition of Gallinari to the Miami Heat makes sense: He fits in with the team-first interchangeable-parts style of play that earned the Heat a conference championship last year. This could be the move that puts Miami in contention for a Finals victory.

Serge Ibaka to the New Orleans Pelicans Serge Ibaka is coming off of one of the best seasons of his career, averaging 15.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 38 per cent from behind the arc. While his defensive value may have diminished, it is clear that his basketball IQ is higher than ever, and as a former champion, his experience on the floor has made him a desirable asset. While Ibaka has announced his intentions to stay with the Raptors, he will likely leverage his success from the last two seasons to earn a bigger paycheck with a team looking for an experienced player. The New Orleans Pelicans would be a perfect fit for Ibaka: With Zion Williamson at the core of their franchise, every move they make is contingent on his success. Ibaka would complement Williamson perfectly, bringing his ability to defend, stretch the floor, and much-needed championship experience to a roster of otherwise inexperienced young prospectives.

16

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2020

SPORTS

Ninety-nine years ago this week: The first forward pass in Canada McGill played key role in the development of modern American football Sarah Farnand Sports Editor On Nov. 5, 1921, a Syracuse football player completed the first forward pass in Canada at McGill’s Percival Molson Memorial field. The forward pass was a monumental step in the development of modern-day North American football, which originally resembled rugby.

Many fans are unaware of the origins of American football: It was first developed in Canada, specifically at McGill University.

In 1874, almost 40 years prior to the historic forward pass, McGill competed against Harvard University in a two-game series that comprised the first intercollegiate football games. The games drew around 500 spectators, mostly students, who each paid a $0.50 USD admittance fee, equivalent to roughly $13 CAD in 2020. While Princeton and Rutgers University had already faced off in 1869 in what some may consider the first collegiate football game, that match was more similar to soccer, as only kicking the ball was allowed. The

McGill-Harvard games, which had comparable rules to English rugby, allowed both carrying and kicking in what was the start of the now multi-billion dollar industry of North American football. Harvard had different rules, known as “Boston rules,” where players could only kick the ball, which was round. In their first game of the two-game series, the teams played with Boston rules, and Harvard won 3–0. In the second game, they played with McGill’s rugbystyle rules, and the game ended in a scoreless tie. Harvard liked the rugby style of play much better, and in their next meeting a few months later, Harvard decided to permanently adopt McGill’s rules.

While McGill proceeded to score no points that season, the mark they made in history has lasted for almost 150 years.

As the game increased in popularity, more and more schools formed teams. While many of them started playing the soccer-like style popularized by Princeton and Rutgers, all universities eventually shifted towards McGill’s rules.

The game continued to evolve

in Montreal, and teams from the United States loved playing the new version. Schools from the U.S. would come to Montreal with their own spin to the rules that included features like blocking and the forward pass. In a 1921 game against McGill, Syracuse University completed the first forward pass in Canada, a key stepping stone in the transition from traditional rugby rules to those of the new American version.

At the time, many Canadians did not appreciate the American transformation of their game. They believed the English rugby version of the game was better than this new American form. The Montreal Gazette expressed their disdain for these American innovations in an article published in November 1921.

“Recent rule changes had made backfield play in Canadian football much more sparkling,” the article read. “[But] if the Canadian game was still not good enough, better to retreat toward the rules of English rugby than to go for the American version.”

While Canadians may not have

McGill Football played a historic role in the growth of the modern game. (McGill Athletics) appreciated the style at the time, its popularity grew, especially in the United States. Today, football is one of the most popular sports in North America, with events like the NFL Superbowl drawing tens of millions of viewers every year.

The development of the forward pass was a step in the creation of the modern game of football, and its completion in Montreal was a testament to the role McGill played in the development of the game.

In conversation with Sophia Monahan

Zoom has made dance at McGill more accessible to some students Reza Ali Staff Writer Over the course of the pandemic, physical activity has become somewhat of a rarity. Though Montreal is, unfortunately, still in the red zone, sports teams at McGill have been doing their best to stay active. Typically, varsity sports teams are applauded for their adaptability, but various McGill dance teams have shown similar resilience and creativity to keep their season alive.

Sophia Monahan, U0 Arts, is a part of two dance groups: Mosaica and United Groove (UG). Mosaica, founded in 1984, is one of the oldest dance companies at McGill. They do not have a specific dance specialization, but rather invite dancers of all styles to join.

UG is a more recent group, formed in 2009, focussing on hip-hop dance.

Despite imperfect conditions this year, Monahan explained that having practices over Zoom can have many benefits.

“What’s really nice about the Zoom platform, especially on UG, [is that] there are a lot of students who are not in Montreal,” Monahan said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “One girl is actually doing a roadtrip across America, and she can do this while she’s still in the dance crew since it is on Zoom.”

For Monahan, dancing is almost as natural as walking. She shares her journey as a dancer and the many different styles of dance that she competed in.

“I began dancing when I was three [years old] at a community centre in Ottawa,” Monahan said. “I loved it so much that I began

increasing my hours by one extra hour of dance a week pretty much every year. I also switched to a real studio at the age of 12 and that’s when I started competing in ballet, jazz, acro, contemporary, hip hop, and lyrical. I’ve

Monahan added that no matter how gruelling the training was, she kept dancing because she enjoyed it.

“I was training over 30 hours a week,” Monahan said. “I stuck with dance because I

Over a dozen dance companies on campus, such as Urban Groove, offer students a variety of ways to get involved in the performing arts. (youtube.com) been super involved in the last six years from Grade 7 to 12, and I was even more involved in my last year of high school, as I did competitive [dance] for two separate teams back home in Ottawa.”

love how challenging it can be. You can never be perfect and there are always things you can improve on.”

When she arrived at McGill, Monahan did not want her dancing career to end.

“[At McGill] I did not want to stop dancing and lose the fitness aspect of it [….] I really wanted to continue in any way possible, so I joined the two teams,” Monahan said.

Dance has been an integral part of McGill’s Physical Education Department since the early 1900s. The department played a key role in spreading modern dance in Montreal. During the department’s start, almost all classes were taught by Ethel Mary Cartwright, the department’s original director, and dance only continued to grow at McGill from there, especially with the hiring of Thelma Wagner as a dance teacher in 1938.

Wagner founded the Dance Club, which still puts on yearly productions.

The dance diploma program shut down in 1990, 20 years after movement classes became a part of the Faculty of Education. Yet, today, dance at McGill is still alive and thriving, with over a dozen groups dedicated to different forms of dance.

Dance teams have remained creative in their operations during the pandemic.

Recently, on Nov. 8, Alegria Contemporary Ballet Company, Recreational Dance Company, K-Rave, and Mosaica collaborated to hold a virtual dance-a-thon. The event will donate 50 per cent of their proceeds to Big Brothers Big Sisters, a local youth mentoring program.

Offering students a creative and physical outlet is incredibly important in a year as stressful as this one. The McGill dance teams have set an impressive example for all clubs trying to remain active during this pandemic, by continuing to provide a space for activity and self-expression.