The Concordian - Issue 21 (2015-03-10)

theconcordian

March 10, 2015 | Independent student newspaper at Concordia University. Since 1983.

Issue 21 | | Volume 32

Music p. 13

Christian + hardcore

Southpaw

Photo by Keith Race

In this issue

NEWS

p. 5

Austerity and Women’s Day

LIFE

p. 7

Brewhaha over microbreweries

ARTS

p. 11

Dollar movies, free popcorn

SPORTS

p. 15

Purchase wins, at everything

We tell your stories. Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

OPINIONS

p. 18

Hijabs don’t stop hearings

theconcordian.com

news //

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Write to the editor: news@theconcordian.com

CITY MILOS KOVACEVIC News editor

Campus // NEWS

Concordia students dans la rue Students head back to the streets with 5 days for the Homeless

>> A WORLD WITHOUT POSTAL WORKERS People of Montreal’s South-West borough had a preview this week of the issues that could emerge when Canada Post replaces door-to-door service with community mailboxes. A series of 10 mailboxes installed for unrelated reasons were found to be heavily vandalized, attracted garbage from the neighbourhood, and posed serious complication to the city’s snow removing process.

The mayor of the borough, Benoit Dorais, told La Presse that there was a clear lack of consultation and communication from Canada Post, thus raising additional concerns about how the problem would be dealth with before the phase-out.

>> FRIENDS AND PLASTIC BAGS DON T MIX

Controversy has arisen at Montreal city hall this week concerning the consultation on the possibility of permanently banning single use plastic bags by businesses. The problem arose from the fact that Mayor Coderre’s good friend and ex-campaign codirector Pierre Bélanger was hired by the plastic industry as a lobbyist, and received about $50,000 to $100,000 for his efforts to try and convince the city’s administration to keep the plastic bags legal in the city, according to LaPresse.

Projet Montréal denounced the news and called it a conflict of interest on the part of the Montreal Mayor. On his end, Coderre says that this pose no problem and that he won’t be influenced

by Bélanger on the topic of plastic bags.

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WHITE POWDER SENT TO QUEBEC POLITICIANS

Three federal Quebec ministers have received envelopes containing white powder, according to The Gazette. Two people fainted and another one hospitalized. It is unknown who was behind the acts or whether they were related, but the fire department and police were called to analyze the situation. One of the ministers affected replied by saying whatever the particulars of the situation he would not be intimidated.

SMILING AND MAKING THE BEST OF A WEEK SPENT SLEEPING OUTSIDE FOR THE HOMELESS. JOSH REDLER IS THIRD FROM THE LEFT. PHOTOS BY HAO YIN.

MILOS KOVACEVIC News editor

As they’ve been doing every year for the past 10 years, volunteers across the country will be spending the next week braving the elements to raise donations and awareness for the homeless.

Concordia students will be participating for the seventh consecutive year in the heart of the Sir George Williams campus. Participants will be expected to sleep on the street during those five days without showering and purchasing any food for themselves yet

still attending classes. Past rules limiting use of technology have been changed to better harness the power of social media.

The event was created in 2005

by University of Alberta business students wishing to do a good deed and show that the business community could be socially minded.

“I’ve been involved because it’s been an uplifting campaign,” said Josh Redler, who first participation in 2008. They raised $42,000 and this inspired him to come back again and again. “I love getting new people involved and seeing their reaction. It’s kind of like my vacation for the week,

even though there’s little sleep and lots of work.”

For Redler, now co-chair for 5 days for the Homeless National, it’s not about collecting donations but humanizing homeless existence. “You feel invisible around your peers, even though you’re not lesser than them; you’re equal,” he said.

Montreal’s homeless population isn’t what you’d expect, he says. The individuals you see on the streets day after day are usually those who have been homeless for many years. Just as many are squatters or those who move from couch to couch.

He says last year’s total do-

nations set a record at $250,000, though they’ve always had problems finding daytime volunteers.

Redler encourages Concordians, who’ve always been supportive, to help them out once more.

“Everyone’s hanging around, having a good time,” he said of the experience and the friendships that form amongst participants.

He says this year’s higher temperatures have already produced higher than average attention, food donations, and—he hopes— money donations. “People are in a good mood, and people are more generous. I appreciate it, though I wouldn’t like to think it’s just because of the weather.”

Campus // NEWS

GSA students discuss future change

First-ever congress contemplates faculty associations, alternatives & austerity MILOS KOVACEVIC News editor

Representatives from the university’s graduate programs met on Friday, March 6, to discuss antiausterity spring actions, the limitations and rocky recent history of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) and ways of improving how graduate students are represented.

“It’s pretty apparent the GSA is dysfunctional. This year has been a disaster,” said Geography, Planning and Environment Graduate Students Association (GEOGRADS) President Pierce Nettling. He was referring to the two latest general assemblies that have failed to meet quorum in the last few months. Before these, the last general assembly that did

meet quorum ended up revolving exclusively around heated executive elections resulting in accusations of voter intimidation, undemocratic tactics, and improper behaviour.

The issue of mobilization and student inclusion has been one of the biggest hurdles for most of Concordia’s graduate societies.

Other groups like those representing engineers do, however, have the ability to mobilize—meaning that when they do show up, they often carry the agenda by sheer numbers.

“We don’t have any safeguards.

It’s sort of like here today, [but] we could be gone tomorrow,” said Nettling in describing the nature of some of the smaller graduate groups and the lack of participation. “In Engineering, they whip people to show up.”

He continued: “We do have to come together and form a federation … because we have to use our political power and do something.

Otherwise, what are we doing? At the same time I really think we need to think beyond the GSA.” To that end the Congress agreed future discussions should consider the creation of faculty associations that would act to address immediate issues in a more efficient and quicker manner, akin to those already present at John Molson and the in Engineering and Computer Graduate Student Society (ECSGA).

“I only hear about a concern when it becomes a crisis,” said Trevor Smith, Academic and Advocacy Affairs Manager for the GSA, in talking about the advantages of a nimbler level of governance.

He also brought up the need

to begin involving students in the talks over anti-austerity actions.

“The idea is that it’s much better to lobby the government than to oppose it. That’s a very political stance that our university has taken, and it’s not necessarily a stance I think our membership would agree with,” said Smith.

“By getting out membership talking about [austerity] … things can grow from that. It would also empower the people helping out on this process. It gives them a little more chutzpah to oppose this idea.”

To that effect, a motion calling on Arts and Science students to convene a meeting for the next congress independently of the GSA was passed, as well as a general move towards anti-austerity discussion at the next general assembly.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

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Campus // NEWS

Muslim Student Association rebuffs ‘extremist’ TVA report

Concordia denies culling books from student library FRÉDÉRIC T. MUCKLE Assistant news editor

On Feb. 27, TVA news network aired a report about Concordia’s Muslim Student Association’s (MSA) library, which it is said contained content from controversial Islamic authors who the report claims advocate wife beating and death to apostates and homosexuals.

The report mentioned three authors in particular: Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, and Abdur Raheem Green.

Concerns were raised by the Quebecor media outlet about the effect the books could possibly have on members of the MSA and students that read them.

Since then, the MSA has replied by saying they would accept the help of Concordia’s librarians

in processing their collection and seeing if anything should be of concern.

“We’re getting some help in just cataloging the books and to draw a procedure of the purposes of the library,” said Ibrahim Abou Arab, MSA’s vice-president of external affairs. He went on to explain that at the majority of the abovementioned authors held PhDs and were academics in Islamic studies and other departments.

“These books by Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips and Yusuf al-Qaradawi are found at McGill University, they are found at university of Toronto, University of Ottawa, even at Harvard University,” said Abou Arab.

He said some books may be more controversial than others but it does not mean that they should be removed. Having “a book arguing a point and another book right beside it arguing a different point [is] the beauty of academics.”

He mentioned Hitler’s Mein Kampf as an example of a controversial work available to students in universities across Canada, in-

cluding Concordia.

He stressed that the MSA was not defending in any way authors broadcasting extremist ideas. If future material considered “too extreme” was present in their library, there would not be a problem with removing it, though he isn’t planning on taking any books out currently.

In the aftermath of the TVA report, media reactions criticized Concordia’s response and raised questions about the university censoring books.

Chris Mota, Concordia’s director of media relations, said that the university in no way whatsoever asked the MSA to remove any books from their library, as suggested in some media reports.

“The university will not be calling for the removal of any book from the MSA library. The MSA will decide the library’s contents.

Media references to “culling” and “purging” are erroneous, and it is possible that nothing will be removed. We will let the process take its course.”

Concordia Student Union Presi-

dent Benjamin Prunty told The Concordian that in his opinion, the way the news was treated was an extension of some form of “Islamophobia in the media, and in other mediums,” and that “TVA is kindof adding to that very destructive tendency.”

His official statement called the university’s response too complacent for an unfair attack in an atmosphere of tension over religious accommodation.

Mota disagreed, saying that Concordia was quick to contact and discuss the matter with members of the MSA. “We have been quite supportive of the MSA, we’ve reached out to them right away after the initial report and when they asked us for a meeting with our administration we did that, and we offered them whatever help we could give them,” she said.

Moving forward, Abou Arab hopes that this coverage will not give the wrong impression about his group: “If you’re looking for radical people, the MSA is the wrong place to look,” he said.

Campus // NEWS

Engineering week: bridges galore

NATION MILOS KOVACEVIC News editor

>> MAN ARRESTED FOR PROTECTING PHONE PASSWORD

Quebec resident Alain Phillippon is set to fight obstruction charges after refusing to divulge his smartphone password to airport customs officials in Halifax, according to CBC. The maximum fine for such acts is $25,000 and a year in jail. The case will be closely watched by those keen to see whether the law obliging passengers to cooperate with border officials includes password-protected electronic devices, something that hasn’t come up in court before. Philippon told CBC he will fight the charges, as he believes his rights to self-privacy protect personal items.

>> WATER PRICES TO RISE IN B.C.

A B.C. government plan to change the pricing of its water and sell it for $2.25 per million litres has caused more than a bit of controversy after over 80,000 people signed a petition calling the new law ‘ridiculous’.

According to detractors the change, which may see residential users pay a dollar more per year, will leave bodies of water ripe for exploitation by corporations.

The Province said the plan was a result of modernizing B.C.’s century-old water laws which were previously unregulated, allowing these same corporations to draw as much water as they wanted without reporting or paying for it.

>> BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS WEBSITE HACKED

THE TROITSKY BRIDGE BUILDING CONTEST WAS HELD OVER THE WEEKEND. STUDENTS HAD ONE DAY TO PLAN AND ONE DAY TO CONSTRUCT BEFORE THEIR BRIDGES WERE JUDGED AND DESTROYED.

PHOTOS BY ANDREJ IVANOV.

The Bloc Québécois website was hacked by the United Islamic Cyber Force this Monday.

The website was replaced by a red Islamist message on a black screen. It has since been shut down, according to CBC. It has been suggested that the Bloc Québécois website was targeted because of the federal party’s recent controversial tweet criticizing the New Democratic Party for supporting the wear of the niqab when participating in events like the citizenship ceremony. The tweet was also accompanied by an image displaying the House of Commons through the eyes of someone wearing a niqab. As of Monday night, the website was still down.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Campus // NEWS

WORLD MILOS KOVACEVIC News editor

>> OLDEST HUMAN BRAIN EVER FOUND IN MUD A 2,600-year-old brain found in a decapitated head buried in mud has become the world’s oldest yet discovered. The find, announced by BBC, was discovered at an Iron-age site near York, England. The man may have been the victim of murder or sacrifice; whatever the case, quick burial in anoxic mud preserved the brain—to the delight of archeologists.

>> TOURISTS ARRESTED AT COLOSSEUM A pair of American tourists in Italy have been arrested after being caught carving their initials into an upper section of the Colosseum.

The female duo from California called it an unfortunate accident and profusely apologized. They were let free but face charges of aggravated damages to a monument. According to the CBC a Russian tourist was convicted in November and sentenced to a four-month suspended prison sentence and forced to pay $27,000 dollars for the same crime. The Colosseum was built in the first century A.D.

>> TEN DIE ON FRENCH REALITY SHOW A freak accident has killed 10 people working on a French reality show in Argentina when a pair of helicopters collided in mid-air. The program, called Dropped, is a nature survival show where contestants would be left to fend for themselves.

La Presse announced Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, aviatrix Florence Arthaud, and Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat died in the accident, alongside the production staff.

>> TOO MUCH POO ON MT. EVEREST

The Guardian has quoted the chief of Nepal’s mountaineering association has said the accumulation of human feces on the world’s tallest peak is causing pollution and threatening disease. Typically the waste is buried in snow but the decades have taken their toll on the mountain as it takes the average climber two months to climb the peak, making for a whole lot of leftover waste.

Tandel vs. Concordia case delayed till November 2015 Former personal trainer’s legal saga continues

FRÉDÉRIC T. MUCKLE Assistant news editor

Rose Tandel has not yet had her day in court, but she’ll get her chance soon.

The former student and personal trainer at Concordia’s Le Gym was supposed to testify Feb. 16, but was sidetracked by a full day of fruitless settlement negotiations. Her court appearance has now been pushed to November 2015.

Tandel alleges her boss singled her out in May 2013 after she refused his request to ask a fellow Muslim colleague to stop praying. What followed,

She later quit and launched a $60,000 defamation lawsuit.

She’s also filed a civil lawsuit against her former superior, but won’t be able to pursue it until the case against the university has concluded. The issue is finding common ground, which has so far proven elusive.

One positive note has been that Rayan Ezedin, the Muslim colleague who was told to cease praying, has since come out in support of Tandel and will testify in her defence.

Tandel says she is willing to settle with Concordia so long as the university does not combine the two cases. Ideally she is looking for a clean-up of her record (she had a spotless record up until then) and the ability to exercise again at Le Gym as a student/alumni.

She is also looking for a lump

I feel like this is the same game all over again. Every single time [Concordia says] ‘we want to settle,’ it takes forever to get an answer - Rose Tandel according to Tandel, escalated into false assertions of theft, untrue rumours, and threatening behaviour that was not dealt with constructively by the university. Instead Tandel asserts she was disciplined inspite of going to three different departments—the Director of Athletics, HR, and Rights and Responsibilities—who neither ‘resolved or addressed’ her and her colleagues complaints.

sum to help cover her legal fees, which so far have totalled $25,000.

Tandel is accusing the university of using delaying tactics to stall for time and exhaust her financially.

“I feel like this is the same game all over again. Every single time [Concordia says] ‘we want to settle,’ but it takes forever to get an answer,” she said, adding that during the

ROSE TANDEL’S COURT DATE HAS BEEN PUSHED TO NOVEMBER. whole process her legal team has submitted 168 pages of evidence. To the best of her knowledge Concordia has not entered any evidence themselves, which makes her wonder why they haven’t settled yet or what their strategy may be.

“I don’t know what their tactics are. I don’t understand,” she said, saying the judge gave Concordia until the mid-March to provide their evidence.

Tandel alleges that in the meantime her former boss has

continued spreading rumours about her, something the labour board has asked the courts to put an end to.

Whatever the final resolution, Tandel is confident it will go her way. Still, she’s unhappy with the prolonged nature of the fight over what she sees as a simple case of admitting wrongs and moving on.

“I work in a hospital. When something wrong is done, there’s usually a sense of empathy and remorse. I received none of this,” said Tandel.

Campus // NEWS

CSU campaign trail kicks off Student body prepares to vote in new executives MILOS KOVACEVIC News editor

T

he Concordia Student Council (CSU) election campaign period has officially begun.

In addition to a host of new (and a few old) candidates to choose from, several referendum questions will also be on the ballot during the elections.

These include the creation of a $1.85M Popular University Student Housing fund (PUSH) to be used for the CSU’s housing co-op plans.

Other questions focus on prioritization of the Greenhouse, renovations of the Reggie’s bar and Hive Cafe, an

indexation of all CSU fees to match inflation, and an official stance against austerity.

Another question deals with financial changes to the fees paid to the CSU. While the amount—$3.80 per credit per student—will stay the same, the way they are allocated is set to change.

“To provide financial stability, it was a responsible action for the CSU to harmonize its current financial standing in such a way that would

maintain stability in the long term,” said VP Academic & Advocacy Terry Wilkings about the reorganization. In addition, Wilkings is running for CSU president.

The polls will be opened March 24-26. For more information, visit CSU.qc.ca.

Make sure to keep an eye out for profiles on all your CSU candidates in next week’s issue.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

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City // NEWS

Women’s Day highlights gender inequality

Montrealers gather to march and discuss international feminism, exploitation and MTL austerity

MILOS KOVACEVIC News editor

H

undreds of people from all walks of life came together on Sunday, March 8, for a series of discussions and marches commemorating International Women’s Day. “The rape of the woman, we can equate with the rape of the land,” said keynote speaker and Mohawk activist/artist Ellen Gabriel. She highlighted the goals of prosperity, respect, and equality grounded in all social movements. Fittingly, it was at this time 25 years ago that the run-up to the Aboriginal protests and creation of barricades which would lead to the Oka crisis.

“Much has stayed unchanged,” echoed opening speaker Dolores Chew, referring to the deaths of 1,129 factory workers and over 2,500 injuries in Bangladesh after the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment building. “They died because capitalism is as rapacious as ever.”

The sentiments echoed the original motivation behind the day, back when it was called International Working Women’s Day. It begun as a socialist labour movement centered around female factory workers engaged in dangerous and underpaid work. Since then it’s become so much more, but Chew urged all to remember the continual need for rectifying the economic exploitation of women.

There were representatives from the Filipino Indigenous peoples’ Organization in Quebec, Maison d’Haiti, Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine, and others. The voices of minorities, Muslims, and mi-

grant workers added to the discussion on discrimination and analysis of gender issues and racism as systemic social constructs undermining equality.

“We are not looking for sympathy—we are not victims,” said Samia Botmeh, professor at Birzeit University and coordinator for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). She spoke defiantly about the fight for equality in the more dangerous regions of the world outside the Western experience.

At Concordia’s Norman Bethune square, various attendees and their placards demanded justice for Aboriginal women, an end to rape culture, and the vulnerability of women in war zones.

Fitting in with the general climate were anti-austerity contingents, who called attention to the effects of austerity on Canada’s vulnerable lower-class women.

“I’m happy there was a varied assortment of panelists,” said Cynthia Fortin. “This is also a day to show solidarity and shine focus on greater issues than just pay gaps and violence against women.”

WOMEN, MEN AND ALL GENDERS IN BETWEEN GATHERED TO SPEAK FOR FEMENISM AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ON SUNDAY, MARCH 8. PHOTOS BY KEITH RACE.

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life

Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com Non-fiction // LIFE

Taking the train with the Women’s Press Club Biography of first female Canadian journalists released in French last week SARA BARON-GOODMAN Life editor

“Sitting in George Ham’s office in June of 1904, Margaret Graham tried to convince the railway man that women merited equal treatment. She told Ham that, contrary to what he might think, women journalists did attract a large readership and that the CPR would benefit from taking press women to the World’s Fair.”

In The Sweet Sixteen: The Journey That Inspired the Canadian Women’s Press Club, author and Concordia journalism professor Linda Kay delves into the pivotal moment just over 110 years ago when, on this train ride to the St. Louis World Fair, 16 female journalists banded together to form the Canadian Women’s Press Club.

Last Tuesday, Kay celebrated the newly released French translation of her oeuvre, Elles étaient seize, with an intimate launch

party at Concordia and a talk mediated by Francine Pelletier, prominent journalist and co-founder of the feminist newspaper La Vie en Rose.

The biography centres on the lives and careers of the 16 women—eight anglophones and eight francophones—who blazed a trail for female journalists and writers in this country.

“They completely defied the stereotype of the Victorian woman,” Kay said.

According to her, six of the women were unmarried, some divorced, and some had illegitimate children and conducted torrid love affairs, all while embodying the modern prototype of ambitious, career-driven women.

In 1980, Kay was the first female sportswriter at The Chicago Tribune. “I thought I’d reinvented the wheel,” she said. “But then [after coming to Montreal], I found out that the first woman to work full time in Canada for a newspaper was in 1886.

We had no idea, we really thought we were

in the vanguard, we were the pioneers.”

Kay’s research into the Women’s Press Club began when she attended the 100th anniversary celebration of the club. That night, the members—who were in their 80s and 90s—announced that, with no influx of younger journalists, they would no longer be able to continue the club.

Today, the legacy of the Women’s Press Club has all but disappeared from history—that is, until Kay’s book hit the shelves.

“In their day, many of them were stars because literacy at that time in Canada was becoming almost universal, so they had readership,” said Kay. They were prolific figures, paramount in promoting higher education standards for women and captivating female audiences with their works, yet they were limited.

“Women were not allowed to have the big assignments of the day, they covered the women’s events, the women’s page,

they wrote the women’s page on Saturdays in the paper,” said Kay. “They were very talented writers but they didn’t cover the events that the men were covering.”

That is, until the World’s Fair: “One of the women said she’s going to try to get the railroad, which always took the men to these events free of charge, to try to get take the women,” said Kay.“The gentleman who was in charge of publicity at the time at first was like ‘well where are you going to find enough women to make it worth my while to do this’ and she said ‘there’s a woman working for every newspaper in Canada and we’ll find enough’.”

He challenged her to find 12 such women journalists and, if she did, he would take them all there himself on the premier-class train.

As history goes, she found 16.

Elles étaient seize hit shelves on March 3.

The book is now available in both languages wherever books are sold.

Conference // LIFE

Feminism is in the eyes of the beholder

It’s Beyoncé’s world and we’re all just fighting for equality in it SARA BARON-GOODMAN Life editor

What is feminism?

The answer to this loaded question has been the subject of much debate and controversy as of late. Last Saturday, March 7, Concordia’s School of Community and Public Affairs Student Association hosted ‘Modern Feminism in a Beyoncé World,” an interactive workshop and conference to discuss what feminism means for millennials, in the age of Beyoncé.

Stripped of all but its core, feminism is about equality—equality for women, men, and non-binary gendered people of all shapes, sizes, abilities, cultures, and races.

The conference carried a strong emphasis on dismantling the idea of a white heteronormative feminism and creating conversations around this idea.

The day was divided into seven workshops, mediated by seven speakers: Junior West, doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto in cellular biology; Amy Kishek, law student at the University of Ottawa; Sara Bourquin, Master’s of Public Affairs from the University of Victoria; Yuriko Cowper Smith, Doctorate in Political Science, Guelph University; Katlyn Harrison, a lobbyist with Summa Strategies; Dorothy Attakora, Doctorate in Women’s Studies from the University of Ottawa; and Catherine Lovatt Smith, Deputy Leader of Parti

GUEST SPEAKERS AT THE “MODERN FEMINISM IN A BEYONCÉ WORLD” CONFERENCE. PHOTO BY MICHELLE GAMAGE. Vert, from Concordia University.

The speakers, most of whom were admittedly good friends of the event’s organizers, were all educated, young feminists who approached issues pertaining to their respective fields of study in an academic and professional context. Put together, these niche conversations created a patchwork of what millennial feminism and feminists look like in the world of higher education.

In addition to the speakers and discussions, three group activities engaged the audience to challenge their own identities as feminists, and what feminism means to them.

“If you ever hear that there is one common agenda for feminism, run,” said Attakora in response to a question posed on whether there could ever be a global sisterhood and universal definition of feminism.

This was a question that popped up throughout the conference, which came back each time—after much vocal de-

bate—to the conclusion that feminism must be approached from each person’s own unique angle.

“When we say universal I just want us to stop and think about who and what that means. How do we have one definition of feminism when there is so much diversity and so many layers?” asked Attakora. “Inevitably somebody is always going to be left out.”

Everybody approaches these issues with tinted glasses based on their own life experiences and sensitivities. While many felt that aspects of Bourquin’s talk on starting feminist discussions from the vantage point of a white volunteer in Botswana to be triggering and steeped in privilege, others digested the information as coming from personal experience, and therefore valid.

Speakers were continuously reminded by the audience to check their privilege, so as not to sully the safe space created at the conference with generalizations. Like-

wise, many times audience members had to be quieted down when, impassioned, their tone became accusatory towards the speakers for poor use of language or not explicitly mentioning a certain minority group.

So what is feminism in the age of Queen Bey, of pop culture icons, and of mass media consumption? Feminism’s third wave, which we are currently surfing, is steeped in the endorsements of pop culture heroes.

“Last year Emma Watson gave a speech on gender equality at the UN, Beyoncé proclaimed her feminist position,” said Cowper Smith. “On the other hand, Mindy Kaling does not consider The Mindy Project as feminist on a conscious level. Yet Lena Dunham and Girls are.”

What all this means is that feminism is in the eye of the beholder.

The full conference is available for streaming YouTube.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

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Enlighten your senses and come discover what’s hidden in the dark.

15% off for Concordia students

(Student ID required. Cannot be matched with any other offers.)

151 Rue Sainte-Catherine Est, Metro St-Laurent For reservations call 514 . 419 . 6177

danslenoir.ca Beer // LIFE

The hops, hoops and hurdles of microbreweries

AILES OF SPECIALTY AND CRAFT BEERS AT LA BIEROLOGUE, JUST ONE PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BUY FINE LOCAL BREWS IN MONTREAL. PHOTO BY ALISON BERTHO.

Quebec’s beer game is as strong as your favourite craft pint ALISON BERTHO Contributor

Sipping his homemade La Rurale beer, Patrice Schoune, the founder of the first brewery farm in North America, stands proudly in the middle of his tasting room wearing a beret. Schoune is one of the pioneers who, in the late ‘80s, re-launched the craft beer, also known as microbrasserie, market in Quebec.

Twenty-five years ago, there were only three big players in the beer industry, all industrial: Molson, Labatt and O’Keefe.

They held almost 100 per cent of the market. Then some little players started to produce beer on a smaller scale.

“We were 11 around the table when I started, in 1996. We are now more than a hundred,” said Schoune, while sipping his hoppey beer.

In the ‘90s, the market was a rollercoaster. Many brewers joined big breweries, many crashed and others restarted.

“In the breweries that appeared on the market at the same time as me, I’m the only one who stayed,” said Schoune, explaining that all the others tried to grow up too fast and went out of business. This successful brewer’s experience shows that this market should be handled with care.

A report by the Association of Quebec’s Microbreweries shows that there were 31 licenced microbreweries in 2002.

Today there are 119, and the microbrewery market is booming.

Unibroue distinguished itself in the Quebec market with intricately artistic labels, beautiful names and gourmet beer. “We began to understand that beer could be fine, noble and as prestigious as wine,” said David Deschênes, the owner of Le Biérologue, a local beer store in Montreal.

Les 3 Brasseurs, a famous French brewery chain, pairs its beers with gastronomic food. Julien Lafortune, brewerin-chief at the Ste-Catherine St. location, which has a 2500,00 litre brewer, explained the concept of the brew pub by pointing at the menu: “We suggest a beer for each of our dishes,” he said. One of them, La Marie, is the district beer, created by the brewer specifically to meet the demands of customers.

The demand for gourmet beers comes from a renewed desire for flavourful and craft products. “The brewing revolution is the same as bread and cheese.

Consumers want true products that cost [more due to higher quality]. The market’s here, and the market wants real products,” said Schoune.

Consumers also want to know the origin of the products they buy. At the microbrewery La Succursale in Montreal, a glass window allows consumers to follow the beer production from the main room. “People are interested. We don’t have much contact with industrial pro-

duction processes,” said Jean-Philippe Lalonde, brewer for La Succursale, adding, “It’s also an educational mission.”

Lalonde knew how to combine innovation with local ingredients. His beer La Triple Reine is produced with honey from the company Bee Api, which harvests from its hives in the Rosemont area.

Deschênes’s store also has an educational aspect. “Our mission is to make known and loved the culture of beer and beer itself,” he said. Deschênes noted that people who frequented his shop over the last two years acquired basic or even strong knowledge of beer. “People can now speak about style before speaking about colour,” said Deschênes, sipping a beer with a milky colour that differs from most industrial translucent ones.

But what makes Quebec microbreweries notable is their innovation, which comes from the northwestern U.S. and its bitter hop beers. According to Schoune, the breweries that have succeeded are those that understand how it works in the United States and established the same methods in Quebec. “Here we can produce crazy beer, just like in the United States,” said Schoune.

Thanks to its innovation, Quebec’s craft beer market attracts more and more passionate beer-lovers. One example is Sylvain Roussel, who is originally from Belgium, moved to Quebec recently, and is now an employee at La Ferme Brasserie Schoune.

“The market is new and we can vary the ideas here,” said the apprentice brewer. “In Belgium it is very traditional and

it’s really hard to launch because of the institutions. There’s more opportunity in Quebec.”

With this new interest in craft beer, the association of Quebec’s microbreweries expects to reach 12 per cent of the market by 2017.

“We are now at six per cent, and it will probably rise to 10 per cent or 15 per cent of the market,” said Schoune.

Ontario is already at 10 per cent and the United States at 14 per cent, with an increase of 12 per cent per year in the U.S. Quebec’s market is a bit different.

“In Quebec, the big breweries can still buy space in the grocery stores, and it’s the only area of North America that does that. That’s why it [the market] is much slower in Quebec,” said Schoune.

At Concordia University, some beerpassionate students created the Co-op Les Brasseurs Illuminés in June 2014.

The co-op aims to “become a source of sustainable, high quality and locally produced beer in the Montreal and Concordia University communities,” according to their website. After the success of their first Winter Warmer Beer Fest last November, Concordians are looking forward to their next event.

In the future, Quebecers can expect the craft beer market to grow even more through the microbrewery concept, which is the fastest growing market, according to Schoune.

“There are many hoops and many hurdles, and this is why you have to persevere to succeed in this market,” he said.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 Column // LIFE

Mim meats Montreal: The Schwartz’s experience Episode 14: In which Mim eats a sandwich bigger than her head MIM KEMPSON Staff writer

E

ating at Schwartz’s, a Montreal landmark since 1928, is a right of passage for all Montreal tourists.

Well, all meat-eating tourists (thankfully my vegan phase has long passed).

So, I wonder: considering that I’ve lived here for over six months, why hadn’t I visited this classic, much-loved institution sooner? I was even more surprised when my two native Montrealer friends admitted that they, too, had never tried the renowned Schwartz’s smoked meat sandwich.

The restaurant’s exterior is often characterized by a lengthy queue, which blocks the entrance to the sadly forgotten fried chicken store next door. When I take the bus down St. Laurent boulevard and

MIM TAKES HER FIRST BITE OF THE ICONIC SCHWARTZ’S SMOKED MEAT SANDWICH. PHOTO BY BEN TANGUAY. glimpse at all those people it reminds me of La Banquise or café L’Avenue. From

near and far, people flock to these eateries and wait almost an hour (sometimes

ALAN LIGHTMAN The general tendency of science over the centuries has been to enlarge the domain of what we call the “ hysical universe,” and to develo urely material and rational ex lanations for its henomena. In this lecture, the noted American writer, hysicist, and social entre reneur Alan Lightman first surveys some climaxes in the sciences that bear u on hiloso hical, theological, and ethical issues. Currently, he focusses on religion and discusses the different kinds of religious beliefs that are com atible with science. The lecturer robes the different kinds of knowledge in science and reli-

gion and the different methods of obtaining that knowledge. Lightman will exlore his view that defines the existence of —a “s iritual universe” in addition to the hysical universe, even though the former does not necessarily include what we call God.

THURSDAY, MARCH 19TH, 2015 8 PM OSCAR PETERSON CONCERT HALL

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in wind and snow) to get a table. Seriously, I’m starting to think that queuing is an actual pass-time (“Hey, I’ve heard this new cafe does really nice queues, wanna go check it out?”).

Luckily for us, we went on an evening where we had our preference of tables. Waltzing straight in, I admit that I almost choked because the air was thick with the smell of meat. It took my lungs a good five minutes to re-calibrate to the new breathing conditions (a disproportionate ratio of oxygen to eau-de-beef with a hint of mustard).

We walked to an empty table (situated right beside the giant poster of “Schwartz’s, the Musical”), passing all kinds of clientele. A suited businesswoman, elegantly cross-legged at the counter, devoured a sandwich whilst happily talking to a waiter. An elderly couple— who looked like loyal regulars—quietly chatted to one another over a bowl of fries, while a louder family behind them ravenously ate their meals.

We were a first-timer table, minus the one Schwartz’s regular who was also my friend’s boyfriend. How had he not yet taken her to Schwartz’s in the five years they’ve been together?

As usual, I sneakily tried to order a healthier alternative—is there even such a thing at Schwartz’s?—but soon after committed to the traditional smoked meat sandwich after my friends, genuinely outraged, reminded me that a Schwartz’s inauguration could not be completed any other way.

The “small” sandwich ended up being the size of my head. Layered high with such tender, crumbling meat, it was virtually impossible to eat without falling everywhere including the floor.

Though, with literally 20 slices of beef, there was plenty to spare. We all enjoyed the famous sandwich so profoundly that none of us spoke for the first few minutes. No surprise, I finished the whole thing.

I’d never experienced anything like a Schwartz’s sandwich in my life. Sure, I’ve tried almost everything under the sun when it comes to barbecuing (side fact: Australia is the only country that eats its national emblem, the kangaroo.

Mind you, it’s one of the most ethical meats out there), but never had I eaten smoked meat. Once again, Montreal, you have impressed me with your culinary delights.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10 2015 //

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Column // LIFE

Let’s talk about sex

What’s race got to do with it (got to do with it)?

ANONYMOUS

I have only slept with one black man in my life. He was 14 years older than me, and it only took months of innuendoridden flirting and one stiff amaretto coke before I found myself on my back in his bedroom in Villeray. On one side of me, there was a tropical beach scene tackily painted onto the wall. On the other side, there was a dresser with about 40 cologne bottles spread upon its surface.

On the whole, it was deliciously taboo. I told my mom we were on a serious date at the jazz fest. The only music I heard was the soft chiding of Trey Songz and the enthusiastic groans of a first interracial love affair.

In the days that followed, he would show up at my work. We would dirty text around my colleagues and he implied that he wanted to do some very questionable things to me on the surface of my work desk. My own passion and heated sexual inclination gradually faded. I saw him in a different light: wearing shirts three times bigger than they should be, the swaggerstride inappropriate for anyone over 30,

the diamond earrings that rivalled my own. Everything glittered with the brilliance of tackiness.

When my mom found out, she thought that sleeping with a black guy was something I just “had to get out of my system.� My friends commended me, yet ultimately questioned my motives. I slept with someone I knew I’d never commit to just because I wanted to know what it was like. I wanted to debunk the myth, the expectations that preface a sexual relationship with a black man. I was an equal sexual opportunist, a racial trailblazer, any number of euphemisms that I’ll make up to deviate from the perhaps nearsighted motives that compelled me to put out on a first “date� and never pick it up again.

Why in this day and age is a sexual attraction between white women and black men partially rooted in stereotypes and stigma?

I remember as far back as high school, thin white girls who hid gangsta rap from their fathers announced publicly—or as far as the realm of social media reaches— that they would only ever date black men.

Why? Was it the implication that they’d be bad boys who’d call you baby, would defend your honour and sweep you up, rocking you against an overwhelming appendage? Is it the implication that they’d be fast smokers and slow lovers with pillowy lips and loose morals? I mean, any

Need help with money matters?

Graphic by Marie-Pier LaRose

somewhat-cultured or aware individual could tell you immediately that stereotypes are over-generalizations that are more often than not politically and factually incorrect.

In retrospect, I look at my own reasoning. Was it about a tangible physical attraction? I mean in part, yes. But it was also rooted in my own repressed need to do something “bad,� as a white girl raised in a fairly conservative household.

There was definitely an element of curiosity, a carpe-dick situation that I felt that I’d regret if I didn’t seize. If we’re be-

ing honest, I mean, these we not the explicit thoughts running through my head at the moment, but this is almost a disturbing sexual connect-the-dots that only becomes obvious in retrospect. Generally speaking, sexual curiosity is a normal and healthy thing. However, there is some acknowledgement that needs to be made about stereotyping and fetishizing people of different ethnic groups or minorities.

There are moments where I question whether I’m so colour-blind that it actually—and unintentionally—comes off as being racist.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com Movies // ARTS

Only a toonie to visit Tinseltown

BERNIE GURBERG’S PROVIDES AN AFFORDABLE MOVIE-GOING EXPERIENCE AND KEEPS PATRONS OF THE DOLLAR CINEMA FEELING MORE LIKE FAMILY THAN CUSTOMERS. PHOTO BY ANDREJ IVANOV.

Dollar Cinema’s founder keeps films accessible, affordable KIRSTEN HUMBERT Staff writer

T

he Dollar Cinema is the greatest place on Earth. At first glance, it’s just a second-run cinema in nearly abandoned Decarie Square mall. However, once you start going you become part of the family.

Bernie Gurberg is the owner and one of the few staff members of Dollar Cinema. He works seven days a week, charging $2.50 per flick (or $1 if you buy tickets in bulk). To run a cinema that you can pay for entirely in couch change must be a film buff’s passion project.

But Gurberg hasn’t seen a movie since the original Taken was released. In fact, he only sees a movie about once every five years. So why does he persist in running a cinema with a business plan that would boggle an accountant’s mind?

He claims to be an “ordinary guy, just doing whatever I’m doing.” Our interview is interrupted by a customer requesting a medium popcorn. “No,” Gurberg responds with deadpan delivery, “I’m hungry.”

“We come here for [Gurberg] more than for the movies,” says Alex, a longtime patron, as he passes the counter

with his wife, carrying snacks.

“It’s a family here,” Gurberg nods.

His main business is from families— “single moms with three kids,” in Gurberg’s words. Gurberg says that being able to provide a place where any family can afford to come and buy a snack for each kid is worth more than money to him.

“You need to be 13 to see this movie. Do you have ID?” Gurberg questions another passing customer—who, by the way, is clearly older than 13. With faked exasperation, the client responds, “You’ve known me since I was 13! I’m Don’s kid.” Dollar Cinema has been open

cruit volunteers either—from what this reporter can tell, they start coming for the movies and they just sort of stick around to help. “[Gurberg]’s a good egg,” confides one of the volunteers, who wished to remain anonymous. He and his brother have been volunteering at Dollar Cinema for six years now. They do everything from painting and plumbing to repairing the popcorn machine. It’s also a common sight to see patrons pick up not only their own cups and wrappers, but those left behind by others as well.

This kindness does not go unreturned.

We come here for [Gurberg] more than for the movies.

- Alex, long-time patron for just over a decade now, so some of his youngest customers have grown up with Gurberg.

Another unusual feature of the cinema is the number of volunteers. Normally, a cinema does not qualify as the sort of not-for-profit initiative that would justify such a need. Gurberg doesn’t re-

On two occasions I’ve suggested that Bernie bring in a movie—and both times he’s obliged (Snowpiercer (2013) and The Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)). I’m not the only client to get the VIP treatment either. In fact, he recently helped one man with his marriage proposal by reserving the small cinema and playing their favourite movie

(she said yes).

In addition to providing entertainment at more-than-affordable prices, Dollar Cinema adds to the cultural scene by hosting an annual Jewish Film Festival, various fundraisers, and bringing in movies that other cinemas won’t (or can’t) screen like The Interview (2014). In collaboration with Ginny, one of the volunteers, Gurberg is also interested in producing a Chinese Film Festival in the near future. The festival will feature a series that documents the life of Dr. Norman Bethune, a Canadian surgeon famous for his humanitarian efforts and for bringing Western medicine to rural China during World War II. Dr. Bethune’s statue can be found near the Sir George Williams campus of Concordia University, just opposite Guy metro.

Gurberg has always felt a special connection with Concordia students; when he first opened his doors on June 4, 2004, his first two clients were students of the university. Those two clients visit the cinema to this day.

As a parting gift, he tells me that anyone who comes to the cinema and mentions this article gets a free bag of popcorn. “What would you like me to put as the expiry date on this offer?” I question, expecting an answer like “one week” or “the month of March.” “Well, that’s the problem,” Bernie says grimly. “The offer expires in 5,000 years.”

Hit up some cheap films sometime. The Dollar Cinema is located at 6900 Boulevard Décarie, Montreal.

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Comedy // ARTS

Standing up to traditional gender roles Open Michelle breaks glass ceilings, one joke at a time KIRSTEN HUMBERT Staff writer

T

here’s a great new trend in Montreal comedy. I’ll give you a hint: you enjoy them as litigation experts, plumbers, professors, and that nagging character on your favourite sitcom.

Sure, women are still paid less for the same jobs, but we have generally made great strides in virtually every industry— save one. For whatever reason, comedy is one of the few remaining occupations for which the notion that women aren’t up to the task is still a pervasive attitude. Famous names like Adam Carolla, Christopher Hitchens, and Artie Lang have declared that women just aren’t as funny as men.

Full disclosure: I am an (amateur) comedian. Within the Montreal comedy scene I’ve had overwhelmingly positive experiences. It’s not unusual for an open mic producer to send me a text along the lines of, “we don’t have any women on the line-up tonight—are you free?” Despite the generally excellent attitudes among comedians and producers in Montreal, I still hear from regular folks that women aren’t entertaining.

Women Aren’t Funny (2013) is a testament to the gender barriers that still exist in comedy. The film features comedian

Bonnie McFarlane, who interviews professional comedians and the general public on whether or not hilarity is linked to testosterone levels. In the film, comedian Wanda Sykes comments, “If you’ve got a bunch of guys on the show, maybe four … aren’t funny. But you just have one woman and she’s not funny, everybody’s like, ‘Ah! women aren’t funny’.”

By some logic, this is true: if there is only one woman on a line-up, and you don’t enjoy her performance, then 100 per cent of women that evening weren’t funny.

The guys are winning by sheer numbers.

But the latest developments in the Montreal comedy scene work toward changing the stereotype of women as shrill and unfunny estrogen-ridden humans. Earlier this year, two initiatives celebrating women in comedy had their inaugural events.

I recently attended Hey Gorgeous!, an open mic produced by Women in Comedy Montreal’s founders Katie Leggitt, Lar Vi, and Erin Hall.

After attending the Women in Comedy panel at the New York City Sketch Fest, Leggitt returned to Montreal inspired to build the comedy community and bring attention to the funny ladies of the city. What sets their show apart from the usual open mic? “There is a safety factor [at our show].

It’s such a supportive atmosphere performing with other women,” said Leggitt.

Indeed, there was something different in the atmosphere at Hey Gorgeous! The crowd received every performer warmly.

Additionally, there was a delightful variety in the material and in the styles: meta-humour, and bits about stardom, poverty and

hair-dryers were delivered through classic stand-up, song, and characters. While there are some spectacularly crafted dick jokes out there, it was refreshing to experience such a diversity of performances.

The other remarkable thing about the event was the absence of the usual “triggers”—cues that can flood someone’s senses with memories of past trauma. If you consider the statistic that one in six women will experience sexual assault in her lifetime, attending the usual open mic can be a minefield of triggers. As a performer (and generally sensible person), I support free speech as a fundamental human right.

But I’ve also heard way too many trite, unoriginal, and flat-out bad jokes that trivialize sexual assault, homophobia, genderbased violence, and female stereotypes.

Just because I support your right to say it, doesn’t mean I’m obliged to enjoy it.

Promoting an atmosphere free of the usual triggers and full of acceptance is the raison d’être of Open Michelle, the new monthly women’s open mic at Comedy Nest. I asked Peter Radomski, a comedian and one of the co-founders, the reason for creating an event that features exclusively female performers.

“The bitter reality is that at open mics, guys who are just starting out often feel like they have to be edgy—which can quickly turn into misogyny,” Radomski explained.

“It’s also a response to the tired cliché that women aren’t funny,” he said.

What kind of audience do these events cater to? Anyone who likes to laugh will enjoy the show. While it’s exclusively women on the bill, Radomski reports that

their first event attracted a healthy mix of men and women. So don’t worry boys: coming to this show does not mean entering a festering den of aggressive feminist chanting. As proof, Radomski assured me that at the last Open Michelle he wasn’t burned at the stake or tied up with biodegradable tampon strings, Fifty Shades of Grey-style.

A comedian first and a financial mind second, Radomski engineered a hilariously appropriate twist on the production side of things: the host of Open Michelle is paid 20 per cent more than the host for the usual open mic, in reaction to gender-based pay discrimination. We’re breaking the glass ceiling ladies, one joke at a time.

Ready to get your laugh on? Check out these upcoming events: Open Michelle: Sunday, March 15 @ 8 p.m. at the Comedy Nest—$5. Visit the Open Michelle Facebook page to apply for a spot, or get the deets about upcoming shows.

Laff!: Saturday, March 21 @ 8 p.m. at Theatre Ste. Catherine—$8 students/$10 regular. An evening of sketch, improv, stand-up, and more! Visit the Women in Comedy Montreal Facebook page for more details.

Hey Gorgeous!: Tuesday, April 21 @ 7 p.m. at Theatre Ste. Catherine—$5 students/$7 regular. Visit the Women in Comedy Montreal Facebook page to apply for a spot.

LINDSAY RICHARDSON Arts editor

THE BRAINS BEHIND THE FIRST OPEN MICHELLE (FROM CONNER, NOUR HADIDI. PHOTO BY REESE TURNER.

LEFT)

PETER RADOMSKI, BIANCA DOMINIQUE YATES, TRANNA WINTOUR, EMMA WILKIE, NATALIE WILLETT, ELLIE MACDONALD, KATE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Film // ARTS

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is all bite Sink your teeth into this feminist, nostalgiaridden film SARA BARON-GOODMAN Life editor

R

ight away, the title of this film conjures up a vaguely ominous, if not romantic picture, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night delivers just that, but not in the way you would expect.

From breakout director Ana Lily Amirpour comes this poignant if not slightly confounding film, presented like a lovechild of Giant and Nosferatu, with a strong, albeit murderous female lead.

The story—if there is really a story at all—takes place in the fictional, eerily desolate oil-town of Bad City, meant to be Iran but filmed in Texas. The narrative opens with a wide shot as we follow Arash, a Persian James Dean type played by Arash Marandi, driving through town in his Thunderbird, cooly shaking off a request for money from a young raggedy boy on the street. He has no money, he says, and soon we find out why: his father, an aging junkie with a penchant for gambling and the company of a certain prostitute, is indebted to a leering pimp.

Before the appearance of the gangsterprototype pimp, the black and white throwback aesthetic, vaguely American backdrop and classic car could all fool audiences into placing the setting as a 1950s suburban dystopia.

When we meet The Girl, played by Sheila Vand, she is lurking in the shadows, watching from under her black cloak as the pimp threatens the prostitute, throwing her out of the Thunderbird he has reclaimed as collateral from Arash. Several minutes later, The Girl, all eyes and red lips under her hijab and cloak, suggestively sucks on the pimp’s index finger before biting it off with her fangs and zeroing in on his neck. The

THE GIRL (SHEILA VAND) ENFORCES FEMNIST JUSTICE IN THE DARK STREETS OF FICTIONAL BAD CITY. Robin Hood of Bad City, she takes his jewels (most of which we can assume was stolen itself), and leaves him to bleed to his death on the floor.

Thus begins The Girl’s walk through the night, as a purveyor of feminism, protector of wronged women, and slaughterer of the men who have done these wrongs. When she comes across the young beggar boy, her fangs come out as she makes him promise that he will be good, implying that even this young innocent would likely succumb to the seedy male stereotype of the men in Bad City. She looks about to go in for the kill, but instead locks her eyes on his and swears that she will be watching him until the day he dies.

With her pixie cut and striped shirt, The Girl skulks in the Hitchcockian shadows like a vampire vigilante version of Jean Seberg.

She’s the truest kind of femme fatale, all bite and no beating around the bush.

When finally our two heros meet it’s all poignant silences and wide-eyed staring, a budding romance that wants you to believe that these two kids from the darkest of circumstances might actually have a fighting chance.

The score was perfectly minimalistic, creating suspense with complete silence, broken only by the sound of footsteps approaching and the occasional branch rustling in the wind as The Girl meets each of her supporting characters. The musical tracks,

used sparingly, were excellently campy with bursts of rock-n-roll, contrasting against the eery silence of the Bad City streets.

The low-budget nature, naturalistic soundscape, slightly disorienting jump cuts between scenes, relatively actionless plot, and allusions to 1950s aesthetic in the costumes and props conjures up reminiscences of a darker, seedier side of the French New Wave.

The film is at once highly nostalgic and entirely fresh.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is an Official Selection for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. It is currently playing at Cinema du Parc until March 12.

Fiction // ARTS

The Pause, a short story I

t was the most excruciatingly full minute I’ve ever known. The smoke undulated; the red-lit room slowed enough to be a tangible medium. It was a chamber of slow, electric guitar. It was a room of cigarettes, whisky, and people who search and are left wanting. But your eyes are what made my world thicken. As soon as your gaze latched to mine my breath was lost, taken by the flurry of my mind.

I realize now that I didn’t see you; caught in my gaze was every path you held for me.

I saw me taking you to bed, the tips of your fingers touching my chin, the flashes of skin and desperation. I anticipated every breathless moment of discovering your intricacies and wondering at them. Your gaze, mine for that instant, was replicated in my mind a thousand times over in a thousand different lights. I knew with the surest conviction that the moment when you were about to smile would make something rise in me.

You’d show me perfection, enough to make me itch, enough to make me hunger to hold you closer than your skin could allow.

Even before I knew the happiness you gave me, I felt the sting of losing it. It would be so good that I felt sick and I detested you for the empty space you would leave. I read,

in your eyes, every joy I would be able to find in them. I clenched every muscle in my body just to keep them from slipping off my bones. It was deliciously melancholic, revelling in the idea of you. But I was already destroyed by our murdered ideals, fated to be left broken on the floor.

I shattered our locked gaze, breaking from your fiction to scan the room of other lost eyes. You’re magic my dear, or so I imagine, and I’m a coward that you’ll never know. Leave me with my eyes still searching, a hungry soul, but one that is saved from your wonder ripping it to pieces.

Graphic by Marie-Pier LaRose

LYDIA ANDERSON Contributor

music

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Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

Profile // MUSIC

Southpaw’s spiritual sound ConU student Matt Orsini aims to spread the word about his perception of Christianity with his music NATHALIE LAFLAMME Editor-in-chief

W

hen we think of Christian music, most of us picture the traditional worship genre: the chilling, penetrating sounds of the organ, often accompanied by a chorus of soprano voices, most likely heard in an old, beautiful, impressive church.

But the fact is that there exists many different kinds of Christian music: rock, gospel, pop, blues, rap and yes, even metal.

Christian Metal is the genre 21-yearold Concordia student Matt Orsini has chosen to explore with his solo project, Southpaw. Orsini was raised in a Christian household, studied at a catholic high school, and is now minoring in religion.

For the last few years, he has been creating music that combines his faith and his love for metal music, leading to a powerful, yet unconventional, final product.

“You see, you either get the people who are just like, ‘I love it,’ the people who are like, ‘ef christianity,’ and the people who are like, ‘oh my God, this is blasphemy, you can’t use the F word,’ it’s ridiculous,” Orsini said.

The idea behind the name for the project came from the concept of the “southpaw” in Christianity, meaning the people who would write with their left hand and often be punished for doing so, Orsini explained.

“I thought, what a perfect title ... there’s the right hand of God, and everybody should be writing possibly with their right hand—that’s what traditionally was believed—but I think that it’s time for us to move past tradition and conventional beliefs around christianity, and we really have to re-imagine the faith, because I don’t believe that people are getting on board with it anymore,” Orsini said. “And I think that ... the southpaw in society is someone who can see past the conventional right-hand ways of doing everything and they can make their own way through faith as a Christian, and that’s basically what I’m doing.”

Orsini’s passion for music began when he was just a child. He started by learning how to play the guitar, and then took-up the bass. His first musical success came with a band called A Hopeless Lie, with whom he recorded an EP that contained five songs: one ballad and four heavier, faster songs. The lyrics did not address religion. After three years, the band broke up because of creative differences.

After the band’s break-up, Orsisni and some former members reunited and created a band called Abagail. The band stayed together for about a year and a half until Orsini quit, as he felt he was the only glue

holding the band together, something he felt was a very bad sign.

After that, Orsini took a little time off from music, before finally starting his solo project, Southpaw, where he got to explore Christianity, a topic his past bands were not interested in writing about.

“A lot of the people that I was in bands with weren’t Christian or they didn’t believe in God, or they did all the drugs that I wasn’t into. It just didn’t jive with how I live my own life, and then I said that I had to make my own music that expressed how I feel,” Orsini said. “I think I really had to do it because, for me, there really isn’t any separating God from my life, and if I really love hardcore, then I think it should also be a part of the Christian music that I love and that I like to listen to.”

Orsini now does everything on his own: writing the lyrics, playing guitar, adding electronic drums and editing.

Last year, Southpaw released its first song, “Royal Blood.” The song looks at why using any kind of drug can nega- MUSICIAN SOUTHPAW BLENDS THE METAL GENRE WITH RELIGIOUS-THEMED LYRICS. PHOTO BY KEITH RACE. tively affect one’s relationship with God: “I was made to serve the Lord, not you’d like to be like ‘hey God, what’s up?’ and harassed, is a huge problem today, here lying on the floor/ As death beck- fist-bump, and then you go through the in many different ways, like bullying on ons me and knocks on the door, a glut- door.” social media. ton of the chemicals is always begging for After the song was released, some “I am a product of bullying, from more/ And the rush is fine, but the down people criticized Orsini for swearing in when I was really young, and you need will make you wish you had died/ You a song that spoke about God in “Royal to be able to look through it. You might close your eyes instead of looking inside, Blood.” His response? be able to crucify your body, but your just ‘cause you’re breathing doesn’t mean “As human beings, we all swear. And spirit always lives on, as long as you have you’re alive/ Look into my eyes, and you I think that it’s only natural that we [ac- a good spirit you can get through everywill see God.” cept] it. And actually, I think it makes it thing,” Orsini said.

Orsini does not use any drugs what- a little more honest. The fact that I say, “I really think that it’s got to be gensoever, except maybe a drink once in like, Jesus loves you. Oh, yeah, ok. Dude. uine, from the heart, and because God a while—though never enough to get Jesus fucking loves you. It’s like, ok it’s comes from my heart, and because I drunk. He has proudly been “drug free more sincere! You have to admit it’s got genuinely am attached to hardcore musince ‘93,” the year he was born. this tone to it that’s just unrivaled by reg- sic, the two go hand in hand. I really “You know, go ahead, you’re free to ular speech,” Orsini said. wanted to contribute to this scene that I do [drugs], but I don’t see how it’s going Southpaw will soon be releasing a sec- said I could only find a handful of people to bring you closer to God,” he said. “In ond song, entitled “Nails”, which deals in this scene, I really want to bridge that the end, I think it’s the tightness of your with social crucifixion. According to Ors- gap. People might want a bit of a different relationship with God, your bro-ship with ini, crucifixion is still present in today’s taste of christianity today, and I’m hopGod, that’ll get you... not that it’ll get you society, just not in the way we would ing that that is what I provide through my into heaven, but it’s just nice to have. In- expect. He believes that social crucifix- music, and that’s why I mix it up with stead of meeting Him for the first time, ion, where people are mentally attacked hardcore.”

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Quickspins // MUSIC

Big Sean – Dark Sky Paradise (GOOD music/ Def Jam; 2015)

Sumac – The Deal (Profound Lore Records; 2015)

Leopardism - Extraversion/ Introversion (2015)

John Carpenter – Lost Themes (Sacred Bone Records; 2015)

Is Dark Sky Paradise an improvement over Big Sean’s last two vapid releases?

Absolutely. Over a comparatively concise 49 minutes, Big Sean is engulfed by lush, moody and fairly varied trap rap instrumentals from the likes of DJ Mustard, Boi-1da and mentor Kanye West among many others. From the synth funk groove of “Play No Games” to the densely atmospheric, DJ Mustard produced “I Know,” Dark Sky Paradise remains consistently interesting on the basis of its much improved production. Big Sean, on the other hand, remains as interesting as a plastic bag. Boasting relentlessly of his current status and his insurmountable merits as a rapper, Big Sean forgets to provide proof, regularly undercutting any moment of possible introspection with a kitchen sink of pop rap clichés delivered in the most cringe-worthy of ways (“I’m doing extra numbers like I’m Chinese.”)

With Dark Sky Paradise, Big Sean has sidestepped a chance at ambition and solidified his place as one of hip-hop’s biggest black sheep, proving that a Big Mac in fancy packaging is still just a Big Mac.

Since dissolving Isis (the band) five years ago, Aaron Turner has kept plenty busy; his sludge supergroup No Man’s Gloom has essentially turned into a full-time project. Sumac, his latest venture, finds him joining forces with Baptists drummer Nick Yacyshyn, delivering a relentless, plodding sludge onslaught not too far removed from his previous projects. Whereas Isis thrived on a dynamic, multi-faceted sound, Sumac’s The Deal finds the duo struggling to invigorate, staying in the same crushing key for nearly all of its 53 minutes. In spite of this, Nick Yacyshyn remains as athletic as ever behind the kit, demonstrating his virtuosic ability for chaos without ever delving into perfunctory masturbation. Turner, rarely escaping mid-tempo grooves, nonetheless holds his own as well thanks to tasty, dissonant riffs and a crunchy guitar tone. “Hollow King”, the album’s deafening centerpiece, is a stunning showcase for Turner’s ability to channel the simplistic into something effective. If The Deal lacks much substance, it nonetheless points to a promising and new, albeit familiar, entity.

Extraversion/ Introversion as a whole is a flawless skeleton of songs drawing from rock and pop, settling in the band’s self-described styles of Marg Prock and Cool Pop. This Montreal-based duo consists of Samuel Grandholm, whose gritty voice glazes over themes about his libido and rockstar aspirations. His voice’s grainy quality seems to have more natural distortion than his completely clean guitar—which remains completely clean throughout the album. “Faithful” and “Space Unicorn” both unfold in ambiguous directions by jumping from quirky single-noted guitar riffs, to strong rock and roll choruses. Victor Tremblay-Desrosiers’ drumming is mixed-in at a high level, allowing for a clear platform to sample Tremblay-Derosier’s percussionary creativity. Though the songs demand attention naturally because of the tight and clever melodies, it runs on for, about, five songs too long. The last half of the album sticks together like an indecipherable cluster, especially because of the absence of any new sounds being introduced. The band’s got talent, but the lack of detail leaves the album too unprocessed and repetitive; maybe try a chorus pedal?

Fittingly dated and equally foreboding, Lost Themes is an incredibly authentic piece of fan-service. Though this may be his debut studio album, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more prolific and influential horror film composer than John Carpenter, aged 67, the pounding, proggy compositions he showcases on Lost Themes display no signs of weariness. Transitioning to the digital age, Carpenter’s strict adherence to what he knows best results in chilling songs that, while occasionally compromised by tiny, thin-sounding production, serve as a welcome reminder of the director’s impeccable compositional skills. While it may not be associated with any one film, Lost Themes nonetheless functions as a collection of themes for unproduced films; it’s easy to envision a song like “Obsidian,” a rollicking opus packed with unsettling, rumbling bass and vibrant synths, backing Kurt Russell through a neon dystopia. While its staying power is almost entirely dependent on one’s reverence for the synth-laden, Tangerine Dream-inspired scores of yore, Carpenter’s surprise offering is a real treat for fans.

Trial Track: “Outro”

Trial Track: “Hollow King”

Trial Track: “Faithful”

Trial Track: “Obsidian”

4/10

-Samuel Provost-Walker

6/10

-Samuel Provost-Walker

6/10

-Mia Pearson

7/10

-Samuel Provost-Walker

CJLO DJ NIGHT HIP HOP EDITION COME HANG OUT MARCH 12 8PM KAFEIN

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sports

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

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Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com

Profile // SPORTS Photo by Brianna Thicke

Goaltender snags Rookie of the Year From the gym to the library, hard work and dedication lead to success for Katherine Purchase SAM OBRAND Staff writer

S

till in the midst of her first year at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business, it wouldn’t be unfair to refer to Katherine Purchase as a rookie, at least academically speaking.

On the ice, however, the accounting major’s rookie campaign is complete.

And, boy, was it ever a great one.

Last week, Purchase’s first Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) season was marked with a high honour, as she was named the 2014-15 Conference Rookie of the Year.

“It means a lot. This year went so much better than expected, so to have an award for that is just the cherry on top.

It’s surreal,” Purchase said.

The 18-year-old goalie posted a 1.07 goals against average and a .959 save percentage in 11 games played—the best in women’s hockey in Canada.

Although her stats speak loud enough, Purchase credits the Stingers’ defensive unit for executing their defensive zone coverage with great mobility, and continued to speak passionately about her locker room company.

“I really love the group of girls on our team. I think we have a great team dynamic and everyone is just so supportive of each other. We all trust and believe in

each other. We believe in ourselves as a team and know we could beat the top teams,” she said.

Purchase feels as though the room doesn’t allow for much negativity and credits the team’s morale for creating a

needed to move forward and ultimately perform at a high level.

Purchase has also been known for her determination and hard work ethic. She is a top student at Concordia University with a 4.3 GPA and firmly believes that

It’s a mindset. When I go to school I want to make sure that I understand everything.

I strive to get A-pluses, I don’t try to coast. It’s the same with hockey, it coincides. I don’t like to coast, I want to try to be the best and to try and reach my ceiling and go beyond that.

- Katherine

welcoming environment, one she believes allowed her to mesh with her teammates.

Being the youngest among the rest of the Stingers hockey club, Purchase expressed her feelings of intimidation, but the Stingers’ family-first approach gave her the welcome and encouragement she

Purchase

her principles in the classroom overlap onto the ice.

“It’s a mindset. When I go to school I want to make sure that I understand everything. I strive to get A-pluses, I don’t try to coast. It’s the same with hockey, it coincides. I don’t like to coast, I want to try to be the best and to try and reach

my ceiling and go beyond that,” said Purchase.

The Halifax native trains extensively to keep up with the rest of the team by never wasting a minute and taking advantage of every opportunity that is presented to her.

She even goes as far as watching old reels of herself in effort to rectify mistakes and improve on understanding the game from every angle.

“I trained really hard over the summer because I knew that university girls are really in shape and I wanted to get to that level because I didn’t want to fall behind further than everyone else,” said Purchase.

“I love being on the ice, I love practices, and I never want to waste ice time.

I try to make the most of every minute and try to improve as best as I can in that timeframe,” she added.

Her passion for the game stems from her mother, an inspiration she credits as the reason why she got into hockey in the first place. Purchase began playing hockey at the age of nine, but decided to put her faith in being a full time goalie at 12.

Despite losing in the first round of the playoffs to Université de Montréal, Purchase believes that the Stingers hockey program is on the rise and is optimistic about next season.

“Things are really looking up for the team next year. Our goals are only going to be a little bit higher, we’ll probably strive to place as a top-tier team,” she said.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 Women’s basketball // SPORTS

Women’s team bounced from playoffs Stingers fall apart in the fourth quarter in the RSEQ Final Four, and lose to the Citadins CASEY DULSON Staff writer

T

he Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins have been the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team’s toughest opponent for the last two seasons. On Thursday March 6, the two teams met in the semifinals of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) Final Four that was held at Bishop’s University.

UQAM defeated Concordia 54-47, ending the Stingers’ season. The Stingers shot a horrendous 25.6 per cent as they only made 16 of their 63 shot attempts. Citadins centre Jessica Lubin was the best player on the court as she had big presence in the paint, scoring 21 points and 20 rebounds in the victory.

The Stingers scored the first four points of the game by the fourth minute mark on back-to-back baskets by forward Marilyse Roy-Viau. At one point, The Stingers had all the momentum as they were up 12-2 after uncontested three-pointers by forward Richelle Gregoire. However, the Citadins went on a run to end the opening quarter and cut Concordia’s lead to 14-11.

The Citadins scored first in the second quarter on a free throw by guard Queteline Celestin that came two minutes into the quarter. The Citadins cut the Stingers lead to one point on three separate occasions, but the Stingers kept answering back punch for punch.

The Stingers took their biggest lead of the quarter when Gregoire hit her third three-pointer of the game, which increased Concordia’s lead to four points.

By the end of the first half, the Stingers

clung to a 25-23 lead.

The Citadins scored the first points of the second half on a basket by Lubin, which tied the game at 25. The two teams put on an offensive display in the third quarter.

After the teams struggled to find the basket for most of the game, both teams were about to open the game up.

The Citadins took their first lead of the game at 29 on a basket by Lubin, but the Stingers tied the game at 29 on basket by Daphne Thouin. The quarter ended with the Citadins scoring six unanswered points to take a 42-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The turning point in the game was when UQAM scored eight straight points in six minutes in the fourth quarter. After keeping their rivals in check throughout the game, the Stingers were overpowered in the final frame.

The Stingers finished the season with a mediocre record of 7-10, but a couple of Concordia’s players had a big impact on the RSEQ this season. Playing in her final game as a Stinger, Barrett finished second in scoring throughout the league and was named to the second-team all-star squad. Not to be outdone, Roy-Viau was named a first- TEAMS FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE VISITED BISHOP’S TO PLAY IN THE FINAL FOUR PLAYOFF TOURNAMENT. team all-star after leading UNLUCKILY FOR CONCORDIA FANS, BOTH THE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TEAMS LOST THEIR FIRST GAME. PHOTOS the province in scoring with BY EMERY G. PHOTOGRAPHY. 252 points.

Men’s basketball // SPORTS

Redmen send men’s bball packing Concordia says goodbye to veteran players and coach after their playoff loss CASEY DULSON Staff writer

T

he Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team headed to the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) Final Four and played their cross-town rivals and regular season champions, the McGill Redmen.

On Friday night, the Redmen dominated the game from the opening tip off until the last whistle, winning 74-60. This was the last game played for Stingers guard, Mukiya Post, forward Gabe Riche and long-time head coach John Dore, who has recently retired after 26 years.

The Redmen started the game on a hot streak, opening with a 7-0 run which included a three-pointer by shooting guard Vincent Dufort. The Stingers struggled early, only getting their first basket of the game with six minutes left in the quarter by forward Mike Fosu.

The Redmen closed out the quarter scoring 15 straight points which included two three-pointers by shooting guard Re-

gis Ivaniukas. The Stingers only shot 16 per cent in the quarter and trailed 25-7 by the end of the first.

The Stingers went on a run that saw them score six straight points early in the second to help their cause. The run was led by Post, who scored five out of six points, but the Redmen continued to increase their big lead and answered with six straight points of their own. By the time the buzzer sounded for halftime, the Stingers trailed 35-19.

Photo by Emery G. Photography

The Stingers came out with more urgency in the second half, sensing that their season was on the brink of defeat. The Stingers offence began to heat up and controlled the tempo for the first part of the quarter. They had crawled back and were only down by 11 points midway through the third. As the Redmen’s offence went cold, it seemed, for a moment, that the Stingers had a chance.

The Redmen rebounded from their slow start to the quarter and finished

strong. They scored eight straight points to end the third quarter and were up 16 heading into the final quarter, leading 5438.

McGill scored the first four points of the last quarter on baskets by Dele Ogundokun and point guard Ave Bross. Much like the start of the third quarter, Concordia’s offence came to life for a quick moment in the fourth quarter and exploded for 12 unanswered points. Although Concordia was only down by 10 at that point, it was as close as the Stingers got in their final game. The Redmen clinched the victory late in the game after a slew of slam dunks by Michael Peterkin that seemed to zap Concordia’s momentum.

Concordia ended the year with a record of 8-9. Despite their early exit to a superior McGill squad, several Stingers received regular season honours.

Forward Ken Beaulieu was named second team all-star, point guard Ricardo Monge was named to the all-rookie team and lastly, Post won the conference’s leadership award for his non-profit organization and charitable work off the court.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

opinions

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Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com Editorial // OPINIONS

TVA’s fear mongering is simply bad journalism The Muslim Student Association’s library is not a breeding ground for radicals

T

he last week has been an interesting one for the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and Concordia. On Feb. 27, Quebecor-owned TVA aired an “exclusive” report “uncovering” the “scandalous” content in the MSA’s library.

According to the report in question, the MSA’s library contained books by authors who had voiced extremist views such as advocating for husband’s beating their wives as long at it doesn’t leave any marks or promoting the death penalty as punishment for homosexuality.

It’s important to note the books in question did not contain these problematic ideas directly—the authors had apparently said these things during separate interviews and presentations.

The report implies that the MSA library is spreading extremist texts and views throughout its membership and that it has no business having these ‘radicalized’ books.

So let’s dissect this outlandish story a little. First off, the reporter states that Concordia has approximately 6,000 Muslim students. The university does not keep track of their students’ religious beliefs—obviously—so how did they come up with this number? We’re stumped.

He goes on to comment, as he enters the MSA Library, that many “veiled

women” were seen sitting in the room.

You mean to tell us that women wearing hijabs were spotted at the MSA’s library? What. A. Shock.

According to a 2010 study, Islam makes up over 23 per cent of the world’s population. That’s 1.57 billion people.

To assume that any member of the MSA is more likely to become a radicalized than anyone else is blatantly unjust.

Since its publication, the story has been shared across the country.

Shoddy journalism aside, why was this on the news in the first place? All libraries contain books with extremist views. Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, for example, can be found at the Concordia library and no one felt the need to do an exposé about it. No one protested it, or made a report with a dubious statistic about the number of German students at Concordia.

There is a difference between reading about a subject and taking its radical ideas to heart. People aren’t banned from reading Karl Marx for fear they will be indoctrinated and start plotting to slaughter the bourgeoisie. It doesn’t happen that way.

In the spirit of this, is it really necessary for us to explain to TVA that having access to a book, and maybe even reading it, does not in any way mean that you agree with what the book states?

Apparently, it is.

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Graphic by Marie-Pier LaRose

Society // OPINIONS

Rethinking Israel Apartheid Week For some, calling it “apartheid” is too strong a word BRADLEY MARTIN Contributor

It’s that time of year: the time when a number of students at Concordia, with a dysfunctional focus on Israel, seek to launch an event hurling accusations against Israel for being an “apartheid state.” This accusation contains little to no substance or veracity. It would be amusing, if it weren’t so pathetic and an insult to actual victims of apartheid.

As students of Concordia, we have a responsibility to properly analyze a situation while using the correct words to describe it. “Apartheid” is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a

former system in South Africa in which black people and people from other racial groups did not have the same political and economic rights as white people and were forced to live separately from white people.” The aims of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) are to bolster opposition towards what they refer to as “Israeli Apartheid.”

Contrary to what is portrayed by IAW, there is no system of Jewish exclusion of non-Jewish residents in Israel or the territories it administers. Proponents of IAW would do well to contrast the seriousness of real apartheid to Ariel University.

Ariel University, located in what would be termed as a West Bank “settlement”

by IAW proponents, includes a student population of Jews, Arabs, Druze, and Circassian students. Of these students, an estimated 600 Arab-Muslim students are enrolled. In December 2011, AU held a conference titled “Best Plans for a Peaceful Israel/Palestine,” where Jews, Israeli

Arabs and Palestinians from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas in the West Bank attended and held lectures.

This is a far cry from the now-defunct Rand Afrikaans University, the predecessor of the University of Johannesburg, which limited enrollment to white South African students and banned any potential black student from attending.

Based on 2007 statistics, about 1,300 of Pisgat Zeev’s 42,000 residents were Arabs. In nearby French Hill, nearly one sixth of residents are Arabs, which included students at the neighbouring Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Neve Yaakov, with 20,000 people, has a population of 600 Arabs, according to the Israel Center for Jerusalem Studies. These are areas which IAW represents as being part of a supposed Israeli policy of “Judaizing” Arab lands.

Yet, a major development which truly highlights the absurdity of IAW’s accusation can be observed in the upcoming

Israeli Elections. Israeli-Arab Supreme Court Judge Salim Joubran, is serving as the Chairman of the Central Election Committee and will be in charge of overseeing Israel’s parliamentary elections.

The Committee is in charge of registering lists of political parties running for election, campaign financing, election logistics, tallying results, and dealing with any challenges to the results.

Israel Apartheid Week puts forth fallacious arguments and inaccurate generalizations concerning the State of Israel.

Its proponents do not comprehend the horrendous injustice of what apartheid actually represents, while ignoring the fact that Palestinians are denied basic human rights in Arab countries surrounding Israel.

Bradley Martin is a Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) fellow and student at Concordia University.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Society // OPINIONS

The court should be secular—heads shouldn’t A little bit of wisdom goes a long way when interpreting the law’s regulations MATTHEW CIVICO Assistant opinions editor

W

hen Rania El-Alloul walked into Montreal’s imposing Palais de Justice she was probably expecting what most Canadians expect from their government: a headache and a long wait.

I don’t know how long El-Alloul waited to see Judge Eliana Marengo but, according to CBC, she “was in court to apply to get her car back after it was seized by (the) automobile insurance board,” so we can safely assume the headache.

What makes my head hurt is how El-Alloul, a separated mother of three, left the courthouse. She left without her impounded car and with instructions to return with a lawyer—all because she was wearing a hijab.

For the uninitiated, a hijab is a common feature of religious dress for Muslim women. This is not a niqab or burqa we’re talking about, so her face was not covered. It’s a headscarf, that covers the hair.

For this reason, it’s hard to imagine why the court proceedings turned out the way they did.

When El-Alloul finally stood before the judge she wasn’t asked about her case or told how to go about retrieving her car. Judge Marengo asked why she had a scarf on her head.

Now, I haven’t completed law school or worked for years as a lawyer (as judges do before being approved to apply our laws) but I know exactly why Rania El-Alloul was wearing a scarf on her head. Even if Judge Marengo was ignorant of this particular form of religious dress—which is nigh impossible given recent legal hoopla surrounding veils and the like—she was quickly enlightened.

Spoiler alert: it’s because El-Alloul is a Muslim, and she told the judge as much, expecting to move on to the more relevant and pressing matter of her impounded car. With no explanation, Judge Marengo then called a halfhour recess, presumably, to deliberate on this startling scarf development. The CBC report goes on to provide a recording of what followed. “…you stated that you’re wearing a scarf as a religious symbol.”

“Yes.” “In my opinion the courtroom is a secular place and a secular space; there are no religious symbols in this room, not on the walls and not on the persons. Article 13 of the regulations of the court of Quebec states: any person appearing before the court must be suitably dressed. In my opinion you are not suitably dressed.”

Judge Marengo goes on to compare El-Alloul’s headscarf to a hat or sunglasses, all of which, according to the judge, would violate proper decorum.

I went ahead and dug through the regulations of the Court of Québec, Division II (Order, Dress Code, and Decorum), and found that most articles referenced the proper attire of judges and attorneys, all agents of the state.

Article 13 is sandwiched between regulations on maintaining good order by not reading newspapers or taking

unauthorized court selfies, and a clearcut rule about not speaking unless spoken to.

I’m going to go ahead and call Judge Marengo’s interpretation of that regulation (Div. II, Article 13) loose. I believe she mistakenly conflated the necessary secularism of the court with petitioners’ freedom within proper decorum.

I imagine that someone appearing in court with one shoe, a Concordia Stingers toque, and ‘McGill sucks’ painted on their uncovered chest might be fairly branded as “unsuitably dressed.” Go ahead and throw that guy out, he’s being disrespectful and might be intoxicated.

El-Alloul, on the other hand, enters the court as a petitioner expecting the apparatus of the state to fulfill its func-

reports she did the right thing. When she was given an ultimatum to remove her scarf and commence with the proceedings, or to leave and return with a lawyer, presumably after the judge had recessed for 30 minutes to reflect, El-Alloul left the court. She explained the nature of her headscarf, which did not infringe upon the good order of the courtroom, and she calmly received a scolding.

Montreal has rioted for less, in case anyone needs reminding.

Protests may not be necessary though, since the court may yet resolve, what I consider a blatant error, all by itself. According to another CBC report, an official complaint has been lodged and the province’s judicial council, the Conseil de la Magistrature, is looking

I believe [Judge Marengo] mistakenly conflated the necessary secularism of the court with petitioners’ freedom within proper decorum. tion. She expected to plead her case and be served justice, which likely would have included first paying a fine and then retrieving her car. That being the just fulfilment of the appropriate law.

Québec is a pluralist society. It would be downright silly to ask someone to dress up in the Canadiens’ tricolour before appearing before a judge, unless of course the official state religion was Gohabsianism, in which case I wouldn’t expect a fair hearing for any practising Bruiners or Leafites. But that wouldn’t be pluralism, right?

I’m not sure if Rania El-Alloul thinks in hockey allusions, but according to

into the matter.

It was also reported that a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper weighed in on the matter, stating that, “if someone is not covering their face, we believe they should be allowed to testify.”

“I’m not making harm for anyone with my hijab,” El-Alloul told CBC Radio’s As It Happens after the incident.

She went on to say that the complaint she is making is not just for herself but for all people and religions, “for Sikh people, for the Jewish men who are wearing the kippah, it is a freedom.”

It’s that freedom that brings people to

our shores; the freedom that settles desperate refugees and hopeful immigrants alike. I don’t know what circumstances brought Rania El-Alloul to Montreal, but like many before and after her, she was likely expecting Canadian freedom.

The freedom Canada offers includes the right to appear before a secular court without compromising one’s religious conscience, doubly so when there’s no impediment to the good order of the proceedings.

It would seem that Rania El-Alloul is fighting for a freedom I thought I already had, but if Judge Marengo’s reactionary attitude is not just an anomaly, those of us who enjoy a secular state without practicing secularism have reason to support El-Alloul’s complaint.

Though El-Alloul said in her radio interview that she didn’t know what has prompted recent criticism of overt religious symbols, I believe it stands to reason that the current coverage of the international problem with ISIS has played a role, although the debate in Québec has been simmering much longer.

I can’t speak for Judge Marengo, and wouldn’t presume to, but I invite her to clarify or defend her ruling, because as it stands her ruling could be seen as an alarming threat to pluralism.

The state should not and must not wield secularism in the same manner as the failed theocracies of old wielded religion. If it does, the secular state becomes the very problem it sought to fix.

An independent and intelligent judiciary is key to preventing this.

For the letter of the law kills, but the spirit of the law (that is, its reasonable application) gives life—that’s why we have judges—but now I’m paraphrasing my own holy scriptures, and apparently there is no place in a public space for that nonsense.

We can only hope that, at the very least, common sense will be allowed to appear in court.

Graphic by Marie-Pier LaRose

Tuesday, March 10, 2015 Vol. 32 Issue 21 Nathalie Laflamme Editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com

If I can t have a food marathon, then by god, I ll have a movie marathon about food -- or, at least, that s what Twitter decided. What movie isn t made better with a Smörgåsbord of plotrelevant treats? A veritable feast for the eyes and palate? I mean, really: who wouldn t want to #MakeAMovieTasteGood?

Michelle Gamage Production manager production@theconcordian.com Milos Kovacevic News editor news@theconcordian.com Frederic T. Muckle Assistant news editor Sara Baron-Goodman Life editor life@theconcordian.com

@guygavrielkay f Fur #RuinAFairyTale

Lindsay Richardson Arts editor arts@theconcordian.com

@maryperdue “Rebel Without a Sauce #MakeAMovieTasteGood”

Mia Pearson Music editor music@theconcordian.com

@M3lissaMcDonald “50 Shades of Gravy #MakeAMovieTasteGood”

Tim Lazier Sports editor sports@theconcordian.com

@PaulbernalUK “Men in Black Bean Sauce #MakeAMovieTasteGood”

LAURA’S JOKE OF THE WEEK // ETC

@Wikia “Attack of the Ice Cream Cones #MakeAMovieTasteGood”

Keith Race Photo editor photo@theconcordian.com

@bustle “How To Lose A Fry In 10 Days #MakeAMovieTasteGood”

@CarlAzuzCNN “#MakeAMovieTasteGood True Grits.” @PapaJohns “Pie Hard #MakeAMovieTasteGood”

Andrej Ivanov Assistant photo editor

What lett alphabet er of the m best sleep akes the ing pill?

@joshingstern “A Few Good RaMen #MakeAMovieTasteGood”

Saturn de los Angeles Online editor online@theconcordian.com Marie-Pier LaRose Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com Gregory Todaro Emily Gaudet Marilla Steuter-Martin Copy editors copy@theconcordian.com

@Pringles “Pringle All the Way #MakeAMovieTasteGood” @therealisticmom “The Texas Cheesecake Massacre #MakeAMovieTasteGood” @debbieme “Good Morning, Viet Nom Nom Nom #MakeAMovieTasteGood” @Arbys “Snack to the Future #MakeAMovieTasteGood” @MeredithRiggs39 “One Flew Over the Couscous Nest #MakeAMovieTasteGood” @NotBTB “Bend it like Bacon #MakeAMovieTasteGood” @realbadger “Dude, Where’s My Carb? #MakeAMovieTasteGood” @bess_mar “Reservoir Hot Dogs #MakeAMovieTasteGood” @MzBehayvin666 “#MakeAMovieTasteGood Lord of the Onion Rings”

Laura Marchand Opinions editor opinions@theconcordian.com

Natasha Taggart Marilla Steuter-Martin Production assistants

I kno don’t w, w hat ?

Editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. Building CC-Rm 431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6

Pi coull-O, rse of !

514-848-2424 ext. 7499 (Editor-in-Chief) Marc-Antoine Cardin Business manager business@theconcordian.com William Atsaidis Advertising manager advertising@theconcordian.com Tyson Lowrie Jacob Serebin Ruben Bastien Board of directors directors@theconcordian.com

Contributors Kirsten Humbert, Alison Bertho, Mim Kempson, Bradley Martin, Lydia Anderson, Steven Nadeau, Christina Sanza, Casey Dulson, Danielle Gasher, Sam Obrand, Katniss Everdeen, Samuel Provost-Walker

theconcordian

Concordia s weekly, independent student newspaper.

Have a good week !

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