October 12, 2021

The Concordian VOLUME 39, ISSUE 6

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Bonjour, Hi: Mayoral candidate proposes major language changes in Montreal Mayoral candidate Balarama Holness aims to recognize English as the city’s second official language

The sun sets over Montreal, Quebec, October 11, 2021. In the municipal race, Holness currently stands in third place with 10 per cent of Montrealers supporting his candidacy. CHRISTINE BEAUDOIN/The Concordian

BY BOGDAN LYTVYNENKO News Editor

Mouvement Montréal party leader Balarama Holness will recognize the city as officially bilingual, if elected mayor in the municipal election on Nov. 6 and 7.

This proposal has emerged as Quebec prepares for Bill 96 to strengthen the role of French across the province.

Holness’ plan would ensure that all

services on the island of Montreal are provided in both French and English.

This includes the city’s commercial and tourism sectors, as well as official documentation from the municipality.

“When people arrive in Montreal, whether they’re speaking English or French, we want them to feel comfortable and don’t want them to struggle,” said Matthew Kerr, Mouvement Montréal’s mayoral candidate for the CDN/NDG borough.

Kerr added that his borough would benefit economically from recognized bilingualism. He expects the locals to open more businesses as it would be more convenient to acquire permits and deal with paperwork, as well as cater to a community that is already bilingual.

Fifty-five per cent of Montreal’s population speaks both English and French according to the 2016 census, with nearly 850,000 residents knowing at least three languages. Despite the city’s

linguistic diversity, however, French remains the most dominant language in the city with two-thirds of Montrealers calling it their mother tongue.

Still, many francophone and Quebec-oriented organizations perceive bilingualism as a threat to Montreal’s cultural identity, fearing that French may become vulnerable if English gains the same legal status.

Continued on page 3

Commentary Features

Arts

Music

Sports

Long distance relationships: It can’t be that hard to live in different cities…

Right?

Living with Stage IV Cancer: Nalie Agustin’s Journey to Inspiring the World

A few questions with Evan H. Clarke: A Concordia graduate’s music is full of life

With the approval of Bill C-218 in June, what will the consequences be for Canadian sports fans?

pg. 6

pg. 8

Artistic duo Geneviève and Matthieu derive inspiration for their latest performance from investigative TV shows and movies

pg. 12

pg. 14

pg. 10

The Concordian

2

ACTIVISM

News

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

After a year of hardship in Haiti, the response from Haitian Montrealers has been disappointing, says one activist

GRAPHIC BY JAMES FAY

Activist Frantz André is calling on politicians to encourage greater support for the Haitian community

BY EVAN LINDSAY | News Editor

Activists are calling on Montreal’s Haitian community and the Canadian government to take greater action to support the small nation.

From the crisis that followed the assassination of former Haitian then-president Jovenel Moïse in July, to a massive earthquake on Aug.14 that saw a wave of refugees flee to the U.S. and Mexico border seeking safety, it has been a devastating year for Haiti.

tered the U.S. border patrol. was the decision to renew a TempoImages of border patrol agents on horses pushing back Haitian refugees have since gone viral.

Frantz André, a Haitian activist in Montreal who has long advocated for the rights of asylum seekers, said that “The image that came to mind was that we were back to slavery times, with slaves running away from the cotton plantation.” André is a spokesperson for Solidarité Québec-Haïti, and has been a member of the Action Committee for People Without Status (CAPSS). He was nominated by Gala Dynastie for activist of the year and has received the medal of the National Assembly of Quebec.

Montreal is a city with a large Haitian community. Haiti is a former French colony with a large number of French speakers, and this connection is what makes Montreal a popular location for migrants and refugees.

Now some Haitian support groups and activists, like André, are condemning the actions of the U.S. government, and are calling on greater action here in Canada.

Many of the migrants from Haiti and many South American countries were living in makeshift camps near the Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas.

With little access to food or water on the American side, asylum seekers were forced to travel to Mexico in order to obtain supplies. It was on their way back to the camp The reason for the sudden influx where these people encoun- of asylum seekers at the U.S. border

rary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months by the Biden Administration. Many Haitians thought if they arrived in the States, they would be covered by the TPS. But this was not the case, as the TPS only applied to Haitians already residing in the U.S. Many of the Haitian migrants who arrived at the border were already living in other South American countries and decided to make the journey to the U.S. “Many decided, ‘I do not have a good life in Brazil, or Chile or whatever, I’m going to try to get in.’ Because some people do [get into the U.S.] and some people don’t,” said André.

“But when they arrived, most of them didn’t get in and thousands of them got deported to Haiti, even though some of them do not know it.

Some of the kids were born in Brazil or other countries in South America.”

Solidarité Québec-Haïti is one such group that has been fighting against the mistreatment of Haitian migrants. The organization hosted a protest in front of the U.S. consulate in Montreal on Sept. 25. According to an article by the CBC news, only a few dozen people attended.

“To be honest, I’ve done two protests in the past two or three weeks and we didn’t get the response that you would have expected,” he said.

“Whatever we are doing to defend our community or defend the people back home we aren’t getting the response we used to […] It’s almost like they have given up on the country or given up on our identity, they have given up on the suffering of our brothers. [...]

The response is very timid and verbal.”

Haitian people began immigrating to Montreal in the 1960s André himself arrived in 1965 and even though their numbers were smaller at that time André says “There was greater solidarity.”

André says that many Canadian-Haitian leaders have not been taking a strong enough stand.

“We don’t get much from Frantz Benjamin, Emmanuel Dubourg, Nadine Girault, Dominique Anglade and other community leaders,” said André.

Frantz Benjamin, Nadine Girault, and Dominique Anglade are all members of the National Assembly of Quebec, while Emmanual Dubourg is a member of Parliament representing Bourassa. The Concordian has reached out to these community figures, but have not yet received a comment. In a response made to The Concordian by Peter Liang, a communications advisor with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, it was stated that “Canada has a deep and long-standing commitment to Haiti, and we want to continue to strengthen our efforts to improve the lives of the Haitian people.

Canada, along with other key players in the international community in Haiti has been engaging directly with the interim government and other actors, to ensure peace and stability and encourage an inclusive dialogue with all political parties and all sectors of society.”

“When I do protests they’re not there.”

Said André. “Those Haitians that are in politics should be talking about what’s happening and asking the Canadian government to take a strong stand, denouncing and telling the States that ‘What you’re doing is not right. We in Canada are with Haitians and what you are doing is wrong.’ We don’t hear that from Trudeau or any of my brothers and sisters who are in politics.”

Despite a disappointing reaction from the public and politicians alike in André’s eyes, he reinforces that “Getting into the protests, definitely writing to the MPs, definitely writing to Mr. Trudeau himself,” are some of the things that Haitian and non-Haitian To activists like André, it’s Montrealers can do to support been a disappointing reaction. the nation and its people.

News

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021 MONTREAL

The Concordian

3 COVID-19

COVID measures update: Entertainment venues can operate at full capacity as of Oct. 8.

GRAPHIC BY JAMES FAY

A bilingual city-state?

Continued from page 1 “French is already lacking protection at the legislative level,” said Marie-Anne Alepin, president of the Société SaintJean-Baptiste de Montréal (SSJB), in an interview with The Concordian.

“We see the numbers, French is declining — and [Montrealers] can see this with their own eyes. When they shop downtown, half the time they will be served solely in English,” Alepin added.

To further solidify the role of French in the province, the Quebec National Assembly presented Bill 96 in May, which is set to affirm on a constitutional level that French is the only official language of the province.

Expected to become law by the end of 2021, Bill 96 will now require businesses with 25 to 49 employees to operate in French — a rule that only applies to companies with over 50 employees as of now. Government agencies will be required to use French exclusively in both oral and written communication, which also includes newly-arrived immigrants after the first six months of their stay in Quebec.

The office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) is expected to gain more power, which already enforces the language law in Montreal’s food service and retail sectors. Earlier this year, two Montreal businesses were fined $1,500 for the lack of French on their websites, while a restaurant in Mile End received the same penalty in 2020 for having an English-only outdoor sign.

“But even the best law in the world won’t get around the fact that English is an appealing language, especially for the younger generation. [...] With all the TV series and digital platforms, the interest for English is immense,” said Alepin.

The SSJB president specified that, while American culture is beautiful, it does not represent the culture of Quebec. As a solution to the linguistic challenge, Alepin proposes a mass investment in awareness campaigns as well as in French-language cultural projects and entertainment, which would make the language of Molière more attractive and competitive.

When it comes to investments, Holness argues that Montreal needs to gain a special city-state status

as the city does not fully benefit from the revenue it generates.

“That $200 billion GDP has to come back to actually invest here in Montreal, whether it’s [in] infrastructure, small businesses and any other area of public life,” the candidate said in September after filing his application for the mayoral race.

With the annual municipal budget being just under $6.2 billion in 2021, Holness hopes to make use of taxation powers and create a more Montreal-oriented economy, following the example of Washington D.C. or Berlin.

In the municipal race, Holness currently stands in third place with 10 per cent of Montrealers supporting his candidacy, according to the most recent poll from Léger. The incumbent Valérie Plante of Projet Montréal is leading the race with 36 per cent of the vote, while Denis Coderre from Ensemble Montréal stays just one point behind.

NEWS EDITORS BOGDAN LYTVYNENKO EVAN LINDSAY news@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT FERN CLAIR

Among other larger venues, the Bell Centre is now open at full capacity, and many smaller venues have shared their disappointments

BY HANNAH TIONGSON | Staff Writer

On Sept. 30 the Quebec officials announced that entertainment venues such as cinemas, theatres, arenas and stadiums can return to full-capacity seating beginning on Oct. 8. This marks a big step in Quebec’s gradual return to normalcy. However, there are no changes for bars and other local music venues which offer largely standing room only. They will continue to operate at 50 per cent capacity.

In the announcement, Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s national director of public health, explained his reasoning for easing the measures because of the importance of sports culture.

“There is always a logic when we do things. We are treating sports as culture in the same perspectives,” Arruda said.

Just like any other venue, larger venues must follow the following criteria: assigned seatings, vaccine passports and masks at all times, except when eating or drinking. The one significant difference is where bars require social distancing and smaller capacity, a larger venue like the Bell Centre won’t. “[It’s] good news for hockey fans, it’s good news for the economy, it’s good news for culture, I think it’s good news for everybody,” encouraged Christian Dubé, minister of health and social services.

Among the many businesses affected by the pandemic, the bar industry has faced tremendous struggles to keep its business flowing. Many owners of local bars have shared

their opinion on the double standard.

Austin Wrich, the owner of the Diving Bell Social Club, a multimedia performance venue located in the heart of Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood, believes the government’s decision is to benefit the economy.

“It shows a lack of understanding of what culture actually is. I’m personally not much of a hockey fan,” said Wrich. “I’m sure a lot of people are excited to go to the Bell Centre to go watch hockey, but not to be too cynical, it definitely seems like it’s very much a case of ‘that’s where the money is at.’”

“I just don’t see how 21,000 people at the Bell Centre is more safe than people all vaccinated at the Diving Bell. It doesn’t really make sense.

It just seems like it’s more of a political move,” Wrich explained.

Jean-François Beaudoin, manager at Café Campus, a bar, concert venue and nightclub located in Montreal, shared the same frustrations as Wrich.

Beaudoin agreed the closing of bars and clubs was necessary at the beginning of the pandemic, but he doesn’t understand why Café Campus and other nightclubs can’t currently operate fully.

“We’re starting to get angry. Not because we’re still closed, [but] because they are not talking about us. They’re not telling us why we’re still closed.

Where are the facts right now? I don’t see facts. I see politics,” said Beaudoin.

Health Minister Christian Dubé says that he will ease restrictions for bars and restaurants in a few weeks if the province sees a reduction in the number of COVID-19 infections.

Supporter crowd at the Bell Center before a Montreal Canadians game in October 2021. LOU NEVEUX-PARDIJON/The Concordian

News

4 CONCORDIA

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

The Concordian

Concordia Unveils New Short-Term Absence policy The new set of policies will allow for students to request up to two days of absence without a medical note

BY ZACHARY FORTIER | Contributor

On Wednesday, Sept. 29 the university released its newest absence policy, which will give students up to two days off school without a doctor’s note. The move has granted more leniency to students struggling with a wide range of issues including anxiety and depression.

On its website, Concordia details the process is meant for students who are dealing with, “an acute illness such as flu or bad cold, situational depression and anxiety, a significant distressing event (such as the death of a close family member or friend), [or] sustaining an injury,” among other criteria. Students who need this service can access it twice in between fall and winter semesters, and once during a summer semester. It applies to undergraduate and graduate students alike. All a student would need to do is access the website and fill out a simple form that should take only a few minutes to complet While these might be some of the reasons students can be excused from class for up to two days, the policy has its limits. As the guidelines stress several times, this is for serious situations only. The form cannot be used during exam periods and cannot be used in a period where a student would be executing an assignment worth more than 30 per cent of their final grade in a given course. The policy cannot be used as an excuse for personal or family events, transportation issues, competing commitments, technical difficulties, and other events less serious than those listed earlier.

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The new rules from the school’s administration will have a significant impact on students dealing with depression and anxiety. As People walk on the Concordia University’s Sir George William stated by the Mental Health Commission ofcampus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian Canada, “More than 28% of people aged 20-29 experience a mental illness in a given year. By the time people reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 people in Canada will have had or have a mental illness.”

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Commentary The Concordian

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

HEALTH

5

friends got — a privilege that increasingly seemed reserved for those already perceived as healthy.”

Gorden believes, however, that despite good intentions, body positivity cannot solve this fundamental inequality deeply rooted in the healthcare system. She writes, “No matter how much we love our bodies, those of us living on the margins can’t love our way to good health.”

Though body positivity alone is never going to tear down the preconceptions keeping fat people ostracized, there is a real need for a movement that makes people in marginalized bodies (whether fat, queer, disabled, or otherwise) feel good about themselves in a world that wants them to be ashamed.

“To be able to curate a life [...] that isn’t weight stigmatizing is really difficult,” explained Dr. Nutter. “For the health of everybody across the weight spectrum, getting GRAPHIC BY MADELINE SCHMIDT rid of weight stigma is a really great idea.”

Zachary Fortier, a first year journalism and their tumultuous relapolitical science student, explained tionships with their that while he finds a lot of issues with body image is a net the current commodification of the positive for turning the body positive movement, there is still tides of weight stigma.

As Dr. Sarah Nutter, a necessity to promote fat acceptance.

“As a non-binary person assigned Assistant Professor of male at birth, my relationship with counselling psycholmy body has been complicated,” ogy and researcher of explained Fortier.

“Fatness and the weight-related issues celebration of bodies we’ve been told at the University of are ugly beyond repair is what fat Victoria points out, acceptance is all about.

Your body weight stigma relies on what is called cannot be ‘beyond repair,’ what needs “healthy weight discourse.” This is the repairing is the jumble of harmcommon conception that weight and health are inextricably linked, where a ful constructs that make up beauty.”

So, how can body positivity move to lower weight means a healthier body, help uplift fat individuals, and not reproand one can always achieve this through duce society’s focus on thinner bodies? modifying their diet and/or lifestyle.

All sources point back to making Dr. Nutter explained, “Inherent sure body positivity retains its origins in ‘healthy weight discourse’ is this in fat liberation.

While all people can idea that weight is an individual and feel bad in their bodies, it is important moral responsibility, and I think it’s to acknowledge which bodies in socithat emotional aspect of morality that ety are the most marginalized, and fight is really implicated in weight stigma the structures that keep them that way. and the way that people can respond As Dr. Nutter explained, “Body to the body positivity movement.”

This notion is seen most strikingly in positivity should be about accepting healthcare. Aubrey Gorden, a writer and all bodies regardless of weight, size, podcaster who used to publish under or what bodies look like, and that all the pseudonym “Your Fat Friend” until bodies have inherent worth and all last year, discusses her experiences bodies are beautiful. If that is truly the with medical weight stigma for Health message, then that should be reflected Magazine. She explains that due to in the [social media and publicized] her size alone she does not receive the imagery and whose voice is heard.”

Who is body positivity for?

The body positivity movement has seen a lot of change over the years. The question remains as to who are its rightful stakeholders

BY AVIVA MAJERCZYK | Commentary Editor

On March 21, 2015, celebrity event planner turned author and influencer Rachel Hollis made waves in the mom-blogosphere when she posted a photo of herself on a Cancun beach sporting her post-pregnancy stomach. In the photo, Hollis smiles, leaning forward, as her stomach forms small wrinkles on her otherwise small frame. In her caption, she writes, “My belly button is saggy… (which is something I didn’t even know was possible before!!) and I wear a bikini. I wear a bikini because I’m proud of this body and every mark on it. [...] Flaunt that body with pride!”

Four rows down on her profile, in March of 2015, Hollis posted a photo of a cake celebrating her accomplishment of competing in the Los Angeles Marathon, writing “Thank goodness calories don’t count on marathon day!!”

So, you should flaunt your post-pregnancy body because you deserve to, but calories from cake should be a concern? Something’s not adding up.

This is not an attempt to single out Rachel Hollis (though she has had her fair share of controversies in the past).

Her co-opting of body positivity in the service of a less-than-ideal relationship with food is part of a much larger trend.

Recently, there has been some high-profile backlash against the body

positivity movement, with celebrities such as Lizzo suggesting that it has lost its focus on liberation. As the singer explains in an impassioned TikTok video, “Now that body positivity has been co-opted by all bodies, and people are finally celebrating medium and small girls and people who occasionally get rolls, fat people are still getting the short end of this movement.”

Indeed, what we now call “body positivity” grew out of the Fat Liberation movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.

In those days, the aims of the movement were primarily to fight for the civil rights of fat individuals in healthcare and the workplace, as well as confronting the diet industry. This work continued through the decades and, as fat acceptance activist Stephanie Yeboah explained to Refinery29, in the late 2000s, the work moved online, as primarily fat, Black women shared their experiences with anti-fat bias and weight discrimination across social media groups and blogs. Around 2012, however, the movement exploded as people of all body types, including thinner creators, started claiming “body positivity.”

Now, on the one hand, this is a great thing. Arguably, any movement that helps normalize different body types and gets people talking candidly about

same quality of healthcare given to her skinnier friends. In the article, she describes the common occurrence of doctors not ordering necessary diagnostic tests, instead prescribing weight loss for any ailment under the sun (including, astonishingly, an ear infection).

Gorden writes, “I wondered how thin I would need to become in order to earn the kind of health care my thin

COMMENTARY EDITOR AVIVA MAJERCZYK commentary@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT JULIETTE PALIN

Commentary

6 CRIME

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021 PERSONAL ESSAY

The Concordian

GRAPHIC BY MADELINE SCHMIDT

GRAPHIC BY JAMES FAY

The loudest silence

Making it work

The striking silence on missing and murdered Indigenous women feels louder than ever

Long distance relationships: It can’t be that hard to live in different cities… Right?

BY GABRIELA VILLARROEL | Staff Writer

BY JULIETTE PALIN | Assistant Commentary Editor

The Gabby Petito story is a tragedy that has captured people’s attention across nations, as the missing persons case of the 22 year old American influencer, on a seemingly picturesque trip across the US with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, unfolded.

Outrage ensued, and her story became a viral sensation — why does her supposedly perfect boyfriend have nothing to say? Was Petito’s well-curated social media hiding a darker truth? One week after her parents officially reported her as missing, her body was found in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest, and suddenly, her boyfriend fled and was nowhere to be found.

The demand for justice in Petito’s case continues to grow as social media platforms and news outlets persevere in keeping her story alive, giving a voice to the public’s anger and grief. That is, of course, the superpower of the media: to create urgency, and evoke concern within the public for something they might not have noticed otherwise.

Petito’s case undoubtedly sheds light on the greater conversation of femicide, and opens the door to a discussion about the continuous need for elevating the rights of women.

After all, if our society’s social progress still amounts to the frequent murder of women and girls, then we have clearly not progressed enough.

However, even with the massive spotlight being placed on this story, the conversation behind the disappearance and homicide of women still lacks a kind of nuance — the racial dimension which permeates the issue.

What is desperately missing from the conversation is intersectionality.

Clearly, the media has the power to rally behind a missing woman and demand justice, but in this scenario the woman happened to be white. The problem is not her whiteness — the problem is the stark silence of the media when it comes to every other kind of woman. This issue which has no better illustration than through the treatment of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The park where Petito tragically went missing and was later found is located in Wyoming, a state which has seen over 710 Indigenous women and girls disappear within the last decade. Their stories never garnered the kind of desperation and disbelief which Petito has thank-

fully been afforded, and consequently their cases were never given the same kind of dedication or persistence.

If the media’s role is to bring urgency to the stories which demand it most, then the silence with which Indigenous women have been met is a profound failure. The Native Women’s Association of Canada estimates that since the 1980s more than 4,000 Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been murdered.

That’s 4,000 stories like Petito’s, which we never got to hear.

Canada’s 2017 National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls concluded through the use of statistics and testimony from 2,380 family members and survivors across Indigenous communities that the rates of violence experienced by Indigenous women amounted to a “Canadian genocide.”

According to Amnesty International the homicide rate amongst Indigenous women is roughly 4.5 times higher than any other demographic of women.

The evidence makes it clear that in any proportional news system, we should have seen far more stories about missing Indigenous women than are currently being reported.

Yet the reality is that many of those stories are never heard outside of the spaces of First Nations communities.

It is too great a burden to expect the stories to stay within those spaces alone, especially when the problem lies externally — and so does the solution for that matter.

We chose to give Petito a voice, a voice which she deserved, and which was stolen from her unjustly. And we can choose to extend that same right to Indigenous women. The spotlight does not have to be limited, with the truth being that is women of all demographics can fit within its light.

Whether it’s by learning their names and faces, the posts we make on social media, or even the stories we choose to read and write, our actions can rally urgency when it comes to the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women. We must do these things, So that one day soon, we can hopefully see justice done not only for Petito, but for the too many women like her.

Long-distance relationships always seemed implausible when I was younger: how could two people be in a relationship, yet spend their day-to-day life apart?

I had seen my parents go on work trips for a week or two at a time and all seemed well, but my media consumption also showed me the well-known trope of girl and boy in a long-distance relationship: girl surprises boy, boy is cheating on girl, girl eats a whole pint of ice cream on a curb in the rain.

But while sitting at the dinner table during one of my parent’s dinner parties, picking the green peas out of my rice, I overheard my mom’s diplomat friend say something strange.

“Yup! This fall, I’m moving to Sweden, while David stays back in Seoul until next winter. Then he will come join me…” A unique situation notwithstanding, I started to realize there are nuances in relationships, and different things can work for different people.

Fast-forward 10 years, and here I am, two-and-a-half years deep into a long-distance relationship. When I moved to Montreal two years ago for school, I was forced to leave my partner behind in our country’s quaint little capital. Although we had only been together a little over six months, and had initially planned to break up like most people do when they start this new phase of life, we decided to give it a go!

Ottawa to Montreal is only two hours by bus, train or car — so when I say to people my partner and I live in different cities and they initially give me a glance of pity, I must swiftly clarify that it’s a mainly-long-distance-relationship-but-is-it-really-long-distance since we practically see each other every second week.

When I tell people how long we’ve made it work, they always seem impressed — for me, it didn’t seem exceptional — we were just like any other relationship. It didn’t occur to me that we were doing anything different.

Yet the more I think about it, the more I see the differences between relationships where two partners live in the same city, and those where they don’t.

Here are a couple things I like to keep in mind when trying to navigate the relationship landscape.

Communication is key This may be one of the biggest

relationship clichés, but it rings more true than ever when you have to decipher body language and tone over FaceTime or texts. In general, 20-somethings have trouble communicating their feelings efficiently, which can lead to frustration and miscommunication.

In my experience, I’ve found that I often get frustrated when my partner can’t match my “energy” when it is convenient to me: you could call it a remnant of immature childish behaviour. I tend to take my frustration out on him, which has led to me creating an unsafe space for him to express his feelings in the past.

Rather than shutting down and getting upset that my partner can’t relate to my current state of mind, I need to allow him to feel what he wants, without it impeding my own expressions.

In short, it’s okay to be experiencing different things at different times — acknowledge what your person is feeling, and empathize with them without letting it impact you in the now.

Embracing independence When you’re in your twenties, everyone is always expected to be mingling — going out and meeting all kinds of people. And I mean, I like going to restaurants, or even the occasional party or park hangout. All around me there is a perception that being in a partnership — especially a long-distance one — could have a negative impact on the quality of your classic ‘uni life’ experiences, but I disagree.

Maybe I’m lucky in the sense that I hate clubbing — so even if I was single, it would never be something I would pursue — but I’ve found that if there is a basic sense of trust between you and your partner, you are able to do all the fun partying and mingling you want, without the pressure of flirting and/or rejecting flirtation. Instead, you get to go make friends and then come home to a heartwarming text reminding you to take some Advil from your boo thang.

Speaking of my boo thang, shoutout to him for being super kind and driving up to Montreal every second week despite the parking situation in the Plateau — love you.

Commentary

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021 MENTAL HEALTH

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The Concordian

Seasonal Affective Disorder: What I wish

I knew before The weather is getting colder, the sun doesn’t shine as long, and for many of us our moods are following suit

BY HANNAH TIONGSON | Staff Writer

In high school, I didn’t fully understand what Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) was, nor that it affected me and every aspect of my life: mental health, relationships, and academic performance.

When I was in grade nine, around November when it first started snowing, I noticed that I was having symptoms related to depression — oversleeping, having low energy, moodiness, becoming easily irritated, and often feeling exhausted by doing the smallest tasks.

At that time, I was going through a lot of changes in school and in my personal life. It was easy for me to think that I was just going through a funk that I would eventually outgrow. Which I did, but the “funk” came back the following winter.

This “funk” lasted for about five months, roughly the whole duration of the season, but right as spring came by, I would feel like myself again.

Over the years, I noticed that this “funk” was recurring, and always happened around this time of year. Sure, the warmer seasons didn’t erase all my tiredness and sadness, but nothing felt

as depressing as during the winter.

Full disclaimer: I have yet to be diagnosed with SAD by a professional. I’ve been gaslighting myself into believing that these depressive episodes are just the usual “winter blues,” and something normal that everyone experiences.

Until I see a doctor and take all the tests, I am only self-diagnosed with SAD. I only recently started researching and learning more about SAD and how to cope with it. So, what is SAD exactly?

The specific cause for this form of depression remains unclear, although the Mayo Clinic suggests that it is directly related to sunlight which affects several essential factors in our bodies.

The first factor is our circadian rhythm (biological clock). The decrease in sunlight during the winter and fall may disrupt the body’s internal rhythm, and can lead to feeling depressed.

Another potential factor is serotonin levels. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin, the key hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being, and happiness, which may trigger depression.

Finally, the change in season can disrupt the body’s melatonin balance, which affects sleep patterns and mood.

A misconception about SAD is that it only happens in the winter, hence the “winter blues.” However, it doesn’t only occur in the colder months. This form of depression is a lot more complex. The symptoms can be distressing and overwhelming, and can interfere with daily functions.

SAD usually begins in the fall when the days get shorter, and lasts through the

HOLLYWOOD

...Who did they cast?

Exploring why casting directors make such strange choices for movies

GRAPHIC BY JAMES FAY

winter. Weather affects people’s moods.

A sunny day can make us happier and energized, while a rainy day can make us feel gloomy and down. Though these minor mood shifts don’t usually affect people’s ability to cope with daily functions, some may be vulnerable to depression that follows a seasonal pattern.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, about two to three per cent of Canadians will experience SAD in their lifetime. In comparison, 15 per cent will experience a milder form that will leave them slightly depressed, but able to function without any significant symptoms.

Personally, every winter, I experience the same symptoms, but they have worsened over time, which makes me wonder if I have SAD. SAD symptoms are similar to those of chronic depression. Common symptoms include fatigue, even after having enough sleep, and weight gain associated with overeating and carbohydrate cravings.

As previously mentioned, SAD affects not only my mental health but also my relationships. In previous winters, I would hibernate at home and avoid all sorts of socialization and activities. Any kind of non-essential task became too exhausting. Even doing basic daily tasks like checking up on friends required extra effort. This affected my relattionships with those around me, and made me more distant and very lonely.

BY RHEA ROMERO-GIULIANA | Staff Writer

An amazing director, writing, sets, and music are all things that make a movie great. If all those things are perfect, then the movie will be great, right? Well, not if the casting choices are awful. Why do certain movies get people who are completely wrong for the roles they are cast in?

That’s a question I am trying to find the answer to.

Take the upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie, which cast Chris Pratt as the voice actor for Mario.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think Chris Pratt was a gem at one point in time, and he was the perfect casting choice for Starlord in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but this choice feels all wrong. The last thing I can imagine is Pratt doing an Italian accent. When I heard the news about the film, my first thought was, what were they thinking? The name Chris Pratt stirs up many emotions in people, some think he is this lovable guy, and others were not pleased with his church connection, alleging they promote anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. However, his popularity and relevance cannot be denied.However, his popularity and relevance cannot be denied.

I think that Hollywood is aware of the media attention a big name like Chris Pratt will bring to the movie.

In that case, I think this casting move was a cash grab, and now that there is controversy over the choice, based upon his conservative affiliations, it will just draw more attention to the film. This is a cheap attempt at garnering buzz for the movie which, alongside the awful casting choice, will get people to watch it. But despite all of these reasons, part of me wants to see

the movie just to observe how Pratt fairs in the role.

PHOTO COLLAGE BY KIT MERGAERT

Aside from an actor’s outward persona, their looks can take precedence over their acting skills. One example is Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, a sci-fi movie released in 2017, which had one of the most amazing visual scenes I have seen in a long time. And I had high hopes that it would be a good allround move.

Sadly, however, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne cast as the leads, was about all the movie had going for it.

First off, when I saw the leads, I thought they looked like brother and sister, which was an odd choice because they are supposed to be love interests. They lacked any connection, which was unfortunate, because otherwise cute lines like “I’ll delete my playlist for you” became nothing more than a cringe-fest. It seemed like the studio wanted two individually attractive people, which seemed to outweigh the problem of their sibling-like appearance. I kept asking myself if there truly was no one better for this role. Interestingly enough, DeHaan

I’ve also seen it affect my academic performance. I usually perform very well in the fall semester, but I’ve noticed a drastic change in my grades and a lack of motivation during winter semesters.

My SAD has made it hard for me to even get up in the morning without crying. No joke. Only a few days ago, I woke up at 5 a.m., got dressed, sat on my couch and cried about how stressed I was. Then, I left the house to catch the bus, and missed it. Cried even more.

By waking up every morning and seeing how dark it is outside, I instantly feel depressed. The cherry on top: when I take the train going back home at 6 p.m., it’s already pitch-dark, which is very discouraging, and makes me extremely tired.

The transition between the summer and fall seasons has been excruciating. How will I cope with my undiagnosed SAD, and prepare myself for the brutal winter, you may ask?

I will try to be active and spend time outdoors during the day, but most importantly, I’m finally going to see a doctor for a diagnosis, and finally start therapy.

SAD is a form of depression that needs to be treated just like any other mental illness.

SAD is still a stigma around many people, especially students. If you’ve had similar experiences, I encourage you to reach out to a mental health specialist and get the help needed.

wasn’t all that popular at the time of the movie’s release. The studio should have focused more on acting capabilities, rather than how many heart eyes they could get from people watching.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was arguably one of the worst movies of 2016. It was a complete recipe for disaster from the writing alone. I mean, we all remember that Martha scene… However, the worst part in my opinion was choosing Jesse Eisenberg to play the role of Lex Luthor. Now, I like Jesse Eisenberg, but not to play such a cool villain. His vibe is more of a shy, quiet kid, and not that of a criminal mastermind.

He is a good actor, but again, his name has a lot of buzz around it, so I am not surprised he was cast. Also, DC has made some pretty awful choices for actors in the past, so it wasn’t much of a shock that they made such a terrible choice. His performance was forced, and it was just a boatload of awkwardness. It seemed like DC was still in their “let’s beat Marvel” phase, so they tried to shove as many big names on screen as they could. I think they tried to overload the movie with talented actors to try and garner some love for the movie, but most people I have spoken to agree that Jesse Eisenberg had no place in the movie at all.

While I am no casting director, I do think that money and namesake sometimes outweigh talent or fit for the role, which is a shame. I find myself wondering what the point of having casting directors is if anyone, no matter how mismatched, can get a role based on name and fame alone.

The Concordian

8

PROFILE

Features

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

Living with Stage IV Cancer Nalie Agustin’s Journey to Inspiring the World “You have cancer.”

Best-selling author, public speaker, and social media influencer has made it her mission to spread light and hope on her path to raising breast cancer awareness

BY MELISSA MIGUEIS | Contributor

Nalie Agustin. Photo by KAROLINA VICTORIA JEZ

These are the words that changed Nalie Agustin’s life when she heard them for the first time in 2013. Eight years later, Agustin is thriving despite living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer – and she’s doing it in the most inspiring way.

At 24 years old, Agustin found a lump in her left breast. Initially, she didn’t think much of it, given that breast cancer is known to be most common in older women. It wasn’t until the lump continued to grow larger that she decided to take action and seek medical assistance.

After several tests, the results came back: On July 17, 2013, Agustin was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.

Driving home from the hospital on that very day, after receiving life-altering news, Agustin recorded a raw, unfiltered and incredibly emotional vlog in her car for her YouTube channel. “The reason why I’m recording this is because I know I have a crazy journey ahead of me, and this is day one,” she says to the camera.

Eight years later, Agustin has a growing community of over 29,000 YouTube subscribers and 110,000 Instagram followers who are inspired by her ability to shift perspective, find inspiration in the everyday and remain resilient, brave and courageous despite her cancer diagnosis.

These unique abilities have been instilled in Agustin since childhood.

GGrowing up, Agustin was raised to be thankful for the little things. With family in the Philippines who didn’t have much, her parents always ensured that she and her two brothers understood the importance of gratitude. In the Agustin household, even a simple dinner began with a prayer.

“We had to be grateful for everything on the table, no matter if it was big or small, or fancy or not.”

The resilience, courage and bravery that she emanates today also stems from her childhood. As the only girl in her tightknit family, Agustin was always ready to prove that she could successfully take on any new challenge that stood in front of her with determination and drive.

Continued on page 9

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

Features

9

The Concordian Naturally, from a young age, her ability to face any obstacle head-on was clear.

After completing CEGEP in 2008, Agustin enrolled in communication studies at Concordia University, a program she felt would allow for the exploration of her creativity in several facets of media,including writing and video. As a self-proclaimed “multi-passionate” individual, this program was perfect for her. However, post-graduation in 2012, Agustin landed a job working in eCommerce where she felt incredibly lost and unfulfilled. She knew it wasn’t the right fit for her.

“I always knew I was meant to do something special,” recalled Agustin as she reflected back on this time in her life.

While a cancer diagnosis may not have been her idea of “special,” raising awareness about breast cancer in young women and inspiring both the cancer and non-cancer community may have been the “special” she was searching for.

It wasn’t long after Agustin graduated from Concordia University that she received her diagnosis: stage 2 breast cancer.

She spent the following year in and out of the hospital receiving the standard treatment, while simultaneously sharing blog posts to “nalie.ca” and vlogs to her YouTube channel. “As a creative, and being a communications graduate, it just felt therapeutic and right to express myself and write,” she said.

Her blog posts were written in the form of personal diary entries. At the time, Agustin’s goal was to keep her large Filipino family updated with the treatments she was receiving, as well as how she was coping with the challenges she was facing.

What started out as a way to communicate with her close relatives and express herself eventually grew into a large and supportive online community.

“I dedicated my entire journey at that point to advocating and spreading awareness because I didn’t know any other 24-year-old who had breast cancer,” said Agustin.

As Agustin sees it, going through breast cancer at a young age raises unique concerns that may not impact older women in the same way, such as the potential of infertility.

In 2014, after chemotherapy, a mastectomy, and 23 rounds of radiation, Agustin was considered to be in remission. For three years, she was travelling, speaking and sharing her story with many individuals around the world. “I was really living that dream list of things I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.

The sense of freedom that Agustin felt was cut short in 2017, when she had a recurrence. She was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer– which spread to her lungs. “That was really traumatic because I really thought it was over,” Agustin recalled. “I really thought I was in the clear.”

A stage 4 diagnosis is considered incurable and terminal. Evidently, this reality was a scary prognosis that weighed heavily on Agustin and her loved ones.

Although difficult, she continued to share her journey with a growing social media following who were “beyond just followers on Instagram.” Based on the overwhelming supports she receives, it’s evident to Agustin that her “followers” genuinely care about her health, happiness, and progress. This is evident in the hundreds of kind, supportive and empowering comments left on every post, and in the meaningful interactions Agustin has with individuals in her direct messages.

For a while, the cancer was quite stable and everything seemed to be going well – until May 2020, when Agustin’s cancer journey took an unexpected and unfortunate turn.

Agustin began experiencing neck pain, headaches, muscle spasms and sudden numbness in her legs. An immediate visit to the hospital and an emergency CT scan confirmed that Agustin’s

cancer had spread from her lungs to her brain.

“All I remember hearing in my head was ‘no.’

No, this can’t be true [...] No, this can’t be the end,” shared Agustin in an Instagram caption.

What followed were five rounds of whole brain radiation, Taxol (a chemotherapy medication) and stereotactic radiosurgery. “That was probably the toughest time of my entire eight-year journey,” she said.

“My brain is like my artifact, it’s where I get all my ideas, it’s what controls my whole body […] it’s my mind which is key to everything,” she explained.

With such a traumatic diagnosis, Agustin disconnected from social media. She knew that focusing on healing hereslf had to be the biggest priority. “I had really dedicated my last seven years to helping others, and now I realized I really need to help myself,” she explained.

However, although she temporarily ceased writing for her active online community, she never stopped writing for herself.

Writing by hand in her diary, Agustin wrote out her life lessons learned amidst the trauma.

When Agustin returned to social media four months later, she decided to make separate dated Instagram posts to update her followers. Each post represented an event or an experience that she had undergone during those intense months of treatment. But most importantly, each post had an incredibly powerful caption with an inspiring takeaway. Organizing all these posts within Instagram’s “Guides” feature, she titled them “The Diary of Nalie.”

These posts are the inspiration behind Agustin’s new book, The Diary of Nalie: A collection of life lessons and reflections shared while thriving through stage IV cancer.

“I always wanted to write a book and have something tangible and physical that my community can hold,” expressed Agustin.

proceeds will be donated to the Program for Women’s Cancer Research at the McGill University Health Centre Division of Radiation Oncology.

It’s been eight years since the words Agustin never thought she would hear changed her life.

But Nalie will continue to live every day with gratitude and faith.

She will thrive.

She will grow.

She will evolve.

She is determined to do so.

“To me all that matters is focusing not on eradicating the illness, but making sure [I] feel as strong and good as possible, because when you feel strong and good, then that’s living,” she said.

While Agustin is eternally grateful for the medicine she has received and her team of oncologists at the hospital, she believes that’s only half the battle. “Healing happens at home,” she explained.

She believes that effective cancer care is the perfect combination between standard treatments in hospitals and integrative out-of-hospital holistic therapies.

Agustin’s years of undoubtable challenges have also been marked by unforgettable life lessons: Taking care of your mind and body is key to truly living. Mindfulness, meditation, healthy eating and light exercise is “the reason I believe I am still here today,” she said.

Agustin is the epitome of what it means to face adversity and uncertainty with resilience and bravery. Throughout it all, she has continued to use her platform as a way of giving back in incredible ways.

She remains driven to inspire thousands online, advocate for young women diagnosed with breast cancer, and be a voice of hope within the cancer community.

Agustin calls herself a “Thriver,” and by continuously sharing her genuine and authentic self, she inspires the rest of the world to thrive alongside her.

Overnight, her book found its place as a #1 Amazon Best Seller in Canada, as well as in two specific categories: #1 Best Seller in Cancer, and #1 Best Seller in Practical and Motivational Self-Help.

“There’s such a big analogy between a stage 4 cancer diagnosis and not knowing what’s to come, and I feel like that’s what people are facing right now – complete unknown and uncertainty,” said Agustin, referencing how the ongoing pandemic has changed life for everyone.

In an Amazon review, one reader shares, “I do not have cancer and I felt like this book spoke to me [...] This journal is raw and authentic with so many incredible life lessons that would definitely make you do a double take on how to perceive things in life and how to handle it with grace.”

Another reader wrote that “Nalie will walk you through her journey and inspire you to keep moving forward in the midst of your battles.”

Evidently, The Diary of Nalie is offering a glimmer of hope and inspiration that many are so desperately seeking in such an unpredictable time. That’s why Agustin believes her book has seen so much quick success.

During some of the lowest lows of her cancer journey, her book and its success has ignited a sense of purpose and joy in Agustin and her family’s life. Launching the book was a beautiful way to “flip the script and really celebrate the wins rather than focus on the trauma,” she said.

In true Agustin spirit, she has found a way to give back. On Oct. 20, she will be hosting a book signing at Maison Principal. All ticket sale

FEATURES EDITOR MÉLINA LÉVESQUE features@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT LORENZA MEZZAPELLE

The Concordian

10

PERFORMANCE

Arts

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

M. Gros: Investigation games and the art world Artistic duo Geneviève and Matthieu derive inspiration for their latest performance from investigative TV shows and movies

BY VÉRONIQUE MORIN | Assistant Arts Editor

Artistic duo Geneviève et Matthieu will present their new creation titled M. Gros at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines theater from Oct. 12 to 15. The performers bring the audience into their universe in a non-narrative multidisciplinary creation built around the themes of investigation, identity, and the art world.

Some of the props Geneviève et Matthieu use in their new creation include fake skin placed on stools, masks with long dark hair attached to clothes hangers, a large piece of fabric piled at the back of the stage, a cotton candy machine, a guitar that plays by itself, a large rope, and a collection of knives.

Their piece is based around the idea of the Mr. Big police investigation technique. This technique aims to solve unsolved crimes through the work of undercover police officers who use infiltration techniques to get to know the suspect. The artists were inspired by investigative TV shows and movies they love. They also thought the name Mr. Big was poetic and could correlate to many ideas, such as the chocolate bar, the body, and the rock band of the same name.

Geneviève et Matthieu have been

working on M. Gros for two years now, with it constantly evolving. Improvisation is a crucial part of the performance: the artists have a script that lists the main events of the show, but the way in which they transition from one to the other changes every time.

The artists view the improvisational aspect of their work as a challenge; one that allows them to constantly try new things. “We want the freedom we are giving ourselves to show through because that is all part of playing games, when you start a game of Clue you don’t know how it’s going to end, so it’s the same for us, it’s the idea of how it will end and what shape it will take,” said Geneviève.

The duo is also accompanied on stage by a mad curator who hates contemporary art, and a visual artist who hides behind the different objects on the stage. “It is a roleplay and there are many declensions, but always under the same theme of our identity, who we are, what we hide and what we reveal,” explained Geneviève.

M. Gros is an investigation game Geneviève et Matthieu set for themselves. They are using movement,

music and text throughout the performance. As the investigators, their target is specific: they are taking over the art world. The idea came to them after pondering what would be the worst thing that artists could lose.

The answer to this question was their ideas. Therefore, the performance also reflects on the contemporary art world.

Geneviève et Matthieu have been working as artists since the 1990s. They also founded an artist centre in their hometown of Rouyn-Noranda called l’Écart. The Biennale d’Art Performatif de Rouyn-Noranda performance art festival which presented its 9 edition in 2018, is another project they initiated.

All the art pieces they’ve encountered influence their practice. Their knowledge enriches the show as they touch on the history of performance art.

Geneviève et Matthieu are both trained in visual arts. They are also musicians who wrote and produced five albums.

The performative aspect of their work appeared later in their career, with their pieces La Jamésie and L’opéra d’or.

Geneviève explained that the creation of their performances was always driven

by the props they use. Also, the multidisciplinary aspect of their work is an important part of their creative process.

“We always present in different contexts whether it is a theatre, an art gallery, it is really something we are looking for because it gives us the opportunity to work differently and to be influenced by the context,” said Matthieu.

After its run at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines, M. Gros will be presented in another form at the Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain gallery from Nov. 13 to Dec. 18.

For them, the exhibition space gives the audience a way of interacting with the props that is different than in a performance space. “When we are in an exhibition space, we have another relationship with the artwork which includes more proximity… in the way we will install it, the work of art will have another life and the objects will interact with each other in a different way,” said Geneviève.

Tickets for the M. Gros show are available on the La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines website.

ARTS EDITOR ASHLEY FISH-ROBERTSON arts@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT VÉRONIQUE MORIN

Photo courtesy of GENEVIÈVE ET MATTIEU

Arts

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021 EXHIBITION

11

The Concordian

Sumarnótt: A night without darkness Montrealers can experience Iceland’s endless summer days in a captivating exhibit

by Ragnar Kjartansson

Sumarnótt, meaning “summer night” in Icelandic, is the name of Ragnar Kjartansson’s new art installation. In a 77-minute music video, the artist captures a long summer night in Iceland, where the sky never goes dark. To create this piece, he partnered with American band The National and Icelandic band múm. The Montreal Museum of

BY HANNAH SABOURIN | Contributor Fine Arts will host the exhibit until Jan. 2, 2022.

Early Thursday morning, I was the first to visit the installation. For 10 minutes, I stood alone amidst a circle of seven floor-to-ceiling screens.

The room was dark, but the screens shone bright, showcasing expansive plains and grey skies.

The video featured two sets of twins dressed in wool sweaters, long skirts, and light scarves. They walked from screen to screen, singing, “by the stream, my love,” “in the dark, my love,” and “death is elsewhere.” I caught myself spinning in unison with the twins. Their hair was unbrushed, and the women wore no makeup. They seemed comfortable in the plains, as if they played music there every night.

While I stood in that dark room, I imagined long grass brushing A big projection plays in the exhibition. HANNAH SABOURIN/ against my shins. I also envisioned The Concordian

a sharp wind blowing against my face.

The singers worshipped where I stood.

For the length of the performance, I felt like I was an idol at the centre of a spiritual ritual. I transcended into something bigger than myself, something worth reverence and contemplation.

The song, a blend of acoustic guitar and soft harmonies, put me in a trance. It invited me to lay down in the grass and close my eyes. The setting is peaceful and beautiful. However, it morphed into something different. It made me aware of my impermanence.

The singers embraced each other, and they sometimes held each other’s gazes. Once in a while, they stopped to look through the camera and into the dark room where I stood. In their eyes I saw a reflection of my fears and worries. I saw the human condition we all share — mortality.

To emphasize human triviality, Kjartansson gives the grassland more screen time than the performers.

He also trivializes the topics they sing about. They sing about death, but the wind continues to blow, and the clouds still move in the sky. Human life and worries are set against a backdrop of a never-ending horizon. The setting is constant and devoid of feeling.

At first, this juxtaposition inundated me with angst. I, the person who stood in the middle of this landscape, was insignificant. But as the singers circled around me, again and again, I started to see the beauty in my temporality. I was suddenly a part of nature. So, I relinquished my worries about what nature had in store for me. Like the twins’ song, for a moment, I chose to believe that love is the continuation of life after death. Love is “in the dark.”

CANLIT CORNER

Four Indigenous authors every Canadian should be reading right now While this article only covers a fraction of the talent

BY ASHLEY FISH-ROBERTSON | Arts Editor

The landscape of Canadian literature is vast and varied. However, it has long been dominated by several household names, such as Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, and Leonard Cohen. As a result, many of Canada’s Indigenous writers have yet to receive the recognition they deserve within the Canadian literary sphere. Although this article aims to showcase several gripping works from four writers, it covers a sliver of the Indigenous talent that can be found within CanLit. With that said, I encourage you to expand your horizons next time you may be at Indigo, instead of expanding your Atwood or O’Neill collection.

Many of the books mentioned below undoubtedly deal with difficult subject matter, but they also offer a firsthand account from individuals who have been impacted by Canada’s failure to acknowledge the country’s devastating colonialist handling of Indigenous people. Here are four authors that will have you binge-reading way past your bedtime.

Eden Robinson Even though Eden Robinson has released several successful books, the author is still deserving of a wider audience. The Haisla and Heiltsuk writer is best recognized for her first book Traplines. This collection of short stories is hard to put down, as it follows several characters who navigate life on a reservation. This work is a great choice for those who might find themselves struggling to become invested in novels, as each short story is not only digestible but will have you yearning for more.

Those who prefer a hearty novel should consider reading the Trickster trilogy. Robinson infuses a sense of subtle magic within each book; however, the plot is still grounded in the everyday lives of the main character, Jared, and his family. Robinson recently released the last book of the trilogy, Return of the Trickster, this year. Readers certainly won’t be disappointed.

Tomson Highway Although the Cree writer is best associated with

that can be found from Indigenous writers, here are four suggestions for getting started

playwriting, he’s also released several children’s books and novels. His well-known work The Rez Sisters is a two-act play, and readers will find themselves drawn in by the raw dialogue and believable characters. Highway’s style is free of gimmicks; he says it as it is, so readers will respect the amount of honesty he instills in each of his works.

For those seeking a novel, consider checking out Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen. This novel follows two brothers who are torn from their family and sent to a residential school. While subject-wise many parts of this book are hard to get through, Highway’s characters are resilient, and their passion for music sustains them during difficult times. This heavy read is worth every second.

Joshua Whitehead You’ve most likely seen the two-spirited, Oji-nêhiyaw writer’s latest book Jonny Appleseed on display at many independent bookstores around the city.

Jonny Appleseed is an emotional read, one that follows the two-spirited protagonist’s journey, both off the reserve and back to it, as he prepares for his stepfather’s funeral.

Whitehead is also well known for his poetry collection titled fullmetal indigiqueer. This collection follows Zoa, a hybridized Indigiqueer trickster, as they attempt to “re-beautify and re-member queer Indigeneity.”

Michelle Good This Cree writer is best known for her compelling book Five Little Indians, which won her a Governor General’s Literary Award. While this book is fictional, it is based on real-life experiences

from five Indigenous children who endured numerous atrocities at residential schools during the 1960s.

This is another difficult read, but very much worth your time. It demands your attention, and will have you struggling to put it down, especially near the end.

Though Five Little Indians is her debut novel, an assortment of Good’s poetry can be found in collections, such as The Best Canadian Poetry 2016 and Gatherings Volume VII. Good utilizes natural elements, such as rivers and stones, to capture feelings of grief that she has grappled with throughout her life. These poems demonstrate Good’s keen eye for detail, as she crafts vivid landscapes that every reader will appreciate.

GRAPHIC BY JAMES FAY

The Concordian

Music

12

INTERVIEW

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

An interview with Montreal-based

Lee-la and asked her to pull her phone out to record. It kind of also became like our tour motto. Like if we’d go to a venue and the guy wouldn’t pay us for the night, we’d say “well, this is who we are now!”

PYL: It was less of a motto, and more of a mantra because we used it when shit went bad to lift our spirits.

LLB: It’s a malleable sentence that just made sense in every scenario!

The Damn Truth

MUSIC EDITOR VICTOR VIGAS music@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT GUILLAUME LABERGE

Photo courtesy of LEE-LA BAUM

The Damn Truth are keeping their answers damn truthful

BY ASHLEY FISH-ROBERTSON | Arts Editor

Despite a turbulent year, The Damn Truth haven’t lost hope.

If anything, they’ve managed to persevere during a time where many have been plagued by anxiety and despair, shifting their sound to one that radiates optimism. The Montreal-based rock band consists of Lee-la Baum (lead vocals/ guitar), Tom Shemer (lead guitar/vocals), PY Letellier (bass/vocals), and Dave Traina (drums/vocals). The band is best known for their catchy songs like Kinda Awkward and Get with You. Over the last nine years, the band’s fanbase has grown exponentially, not only nationally but internationally as well. While Traina couldn’t make it, The Concordian spoke with the rest of the band, who

discussed the process of creating their third album Now or Nowhere and what the future holds for them.

Can you talk us through the process of bringing together your latest album Now or Nowhere, especially during such a weird time?

TS: Most of the record was written on the road before COVID, so after we had done our second album, we toured excessively.

When you get to that kind of point where you forget what day of the week it is, some sort of magic happens and your creativity flows. So we wrote songs on the road, in the van, on our days off. We kind of noticed, even before COVID, that there was this bond between humans that felt like it was broken a little bit. So we felt that we wanted to write an album that was more hopeful and positive.

LLB: We found ourselves a few months later going to Vancouver to record with the popular producer Bob Rock. We had basically four days in the studio and were prepared to do three or four songs. We were ready to do a whole album, so we managed to do six songs in four days. Then we were booked to come back in March 2020, and that’s when things fell apart. So we had to finish it in Montreal on our own. We were lucky that we had some studios at our disposal. We were able to finish the last three songs and put it all together.

This new album focuses a lot on the theme of love, and features songs that offer a sense of hope. Was that originally the direction that you had in mind before you began writing?

LLB: Since most of the songs were written before COVID, if I listen back now, a lot of these lyrics are shocking. They’re a bit

predictive in a way. It freaks me out, because this was written before everything happened.

PYL: Now that COVID has happened, I think a lot of people are now seeing the world the way that we saw how the world was feeling after touring around a couple times.

TS: One thing I didn’t really love about our second album is that we were kind of in a place of… I don’t want to say worry, but maybe fear. Lee-la and I were just about to have our kid and we were thinking all the time, are we making the right decision? Are we bringing a kid into the world that’s worth living in? So the second album was a lot like finger pointing and society-bashing.

So I thought, why would we take the time to point out the bad things when we can use our stage for love, peace, and hope? I don’t know if the next album will be the same, though.

Who knows, it might be angrier.

Can you talk me through the creative process of writing your song “This is Who We Are Now.” How did it come together?

LLB: That one happened in the van. We were driving through Texas in the middle of the night. Tom was driving and PY was next to him. Suddenly the song kind of just hit us.

TS: I heard that voice in my head, just the whole verse that goes “this is who we are now.” I felt it, so I sat next to

How are you feeling about being able to perform live again?

LLB: It’s what we’ve been dreaming of for so long. We’ve been doing our best to try and stay connected to our fans and audience so we’re pretty active on social media, but it’s not the same as playing in front of real, warm live bodies.

PYL: If I can be candid about that question, the first few shows really kicked my ass. We were playing over 200 shows a year. I remember I walked up on stage thinking, “oh this is going to be a piece of cake,” and then I came off sweating bullets and barely able to breathe. It was a really big wake-up call.

What’s in store for you all now? Can we expect another album in the near future?

LLB: We’ll definitely be touring, that’s really the main goal.

There’s a tour that’s already been announced for February 2022 and we’re going back to the U.K. for 30 days. Very exciting! So fingers crossed that they will allow us to get on that flight.

And we’re always writing, so the next album is imminent.

For more information on The Damn Truth and touring dates, please visit their website.

INTERVIEW

A few questions with Evan H. Clarke This Concordia graduate’s music is full of life

BY VICTOR VIGAS | Music Editor

Evan H. Clarke is making his return to releasing music all the way from Austria. The 30-year-old Concordia graduate is back with Nighthawk USA, Pt. II, the second installment of an initial vision for a double album.

Nighthawk USA, Pt. II marks Clarke’s

third release in 18 months, following 2020’s Maverick, and Nighthawk USA, Pt. I, released earlier this year.

Instead of releasing one album with 20-plus tracks, the original idea will see light via three separate releases.

“I was like, ‘What am I gonna do? A double album?’ No one listens to albums these days, let alone double albums, so

I’m gonna release it as three EPs and figure out what’s the best way to sequence them so they worked in the album but also as three separate EPs,” said Clarke.

Creative space is not a problem for Clarke, who says he tends to write songs in batches. This batch, the second part of his double album, is one that borrows inspiration from different parts of the globe. Its roots as demos and ideas were in British Columbia, but these only wrapped up recently after settling into his new European groove.

If this new release can be summarized: it’s mellow, full of life, and an easy listen.

Whether it is the folk-pop feel of Maverick, or the folk riffs on these Nighthawk projects, what is being done is being done well, but it’s not a limit. According to Clarke, his next

project is an electronic one — something fun just to get it out of his system.

The Concordian to Evan H. Clarke about his latest release, and what’s next.

How do you differentiate this project from Nighthawk USA, Pt. I or Maverick? Is this an improvement?

EC: I feel like every time I make something, record, produce, release, I learn and I get better for the next one. So I feel like for this one, in terms of sequencing the songs, mixing, even honing in on my writing, I feel is potentially stronger than the other two just because I’ve learned from that, in terms of working on my proofreading and my editing and making sure that the lyrics are

Music

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

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The Concordian the best that they could possibly be.

Compared to the other two, lyrically, sonically, it is better. I think it is also more emotional. The first couple tracks on the first EP and Maverick, there’s some emotion, but a lot of it is just kinda rocking out and having fun. […] I think that with this one I’m very proud of it because I’ve allowed myself to be more vulnerable than before.

Where did you finish the making of it?

EC: I wrote all of these songs around the same time when I was living in the Okanagan, so the sound of it, the content, the lyrics, the direction are all very much influenced by that landscape. […] I did some of it in Montreal, some of it in BC, some of it in Austria, so it’s been cool to see how the tracks evolve depending on where I am and what kind of instruments I have access to.

It was a lot of fun to do, but it is a lot of work. Particularly when you’re either finishing your degree or starting a new full-time job in a new country, you don’t

always have a lot of time to work on it. So every now and then you have an hour or an hour and a half to work on the mix, but this whole project is just me having fun.

How does your new life affect your creative output?

EC: Last time we spoke, I talked about wanting to do more electronic stuff.

When I was in Osoyoos I was like, “Man I need a banjo,” because it suited the landscape. Now that I’m here I’ve been producing, I don’t know if it’s going to be an EP or an album yet, but more like a sample-based electronic project. I feel it’s directly influenced by being in Vienna, I don’t know what it is, whether it’s being in the city, having more technology, I don’t know. That’s just how my creativity is manifesting in the city, more electronic.

I’ve still got the third part of Nighthawk USA to finish, I’ve got all the music done, I just have to record the vocals and stuff. I think I’m gonna try and do this electronic one first, to get it out of my

system, then go back to the folky stuff.

In our past conversations, we’ve talked about changing directions towards electronic. Where do you go from here?

EC: I just started making this beat one day, and it sounded awesome. Then the next thing you know, I’ve got three or four of them going and I’m thinking, “Maybe I’ll focus on this for a little while.”

When you’re recording acoustic folk music, you have to worry about your neighbours being loud and, I live near a street which is like super loud, so that stuff can be kind of frustrating as well.

So I figure for a little while now, until I get some kind of booth set up in my apartment, I’m just going to focus on electronic. It’s funny how that kind of stuff is influenced by your surroundings.

Clarke’s musical career shows no sign of stopping regardless of what his life looks like.

Photo Courtesy of EVAN CLARKE

GRAMMYS

Some premature Grammy predictions

The Grammys are predictable, and here’s what’s likely to happen

BY GUILLAUME LABERGE Assistant Music Editor

of Winning, Even if It Was the Greatest Album Ever Made, and The Wildcards.

Love or hate them, the Grammys are the music industry’s biggest night.

This ceremony rewards artists for their releases throughout the year by nominating them into separate categories where they have a chance to win a trophy for their accomplishments.

On Sept. 30, 2021, the 13-month eligibility window closed, meaning albums released after this date won’t be eligible to be nominated for the 64th annual Grammy Awards.

As predictable as the Recording Academy can get, there are rarely any surprises when it comes to the nominees in the biggest categories.

That being said, despite the Grammys happening in late January, here are some way-too-early nomination predictions for the Album of the Year category.

As predictable as the Recording Academy can get, (I’m looking at you H.E.R. nominations in at least two of the four biggest categories), there are rarely any surprises when it comes to the nominees in this category. Before beginning, there are a couple of different groups of candidates that I’d like to classify when it comes to nominations done by the jury: The Grammy Darlings, The Newcomers, Rap Albums That Have No Chance

THE GRAMMY DARLINGS This group includes albums from artists who have won in the past or that are often nominated in this category. Whenever these artists drop a project, they are almost always guaranteed at least a nomination (unless you’re The Weeknd and you decide to perform at the Super Bowl instead).

BILLIE EILISH HAPPIER THAN EVER Despite not being as popular as her debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? (for which she won five Grammys, including Album of the Year), Happier Than Ever is still a solid record and could have been talked about a bit more over the summer. This album is an automatic lock in the category because of her last album winning the award.

TAYLOR SWIFT EVERMORE Swift is the current holder of the award. She first won the award in 2009 with Fearless, then went on to rob the award to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly back in 2015.

She won again in 2020 with her more folk-oriented folklore. Swift’s change of style had a little less commercial success than her more pop-oriented records, but received more critical success instead. Now she’s looking to go back-to-back in the same category.

ARIANA GRANDE POSITIONS Ariana Grande has a strong advantage over other artists in this category, by being one of the largest pop stars in the world, (pop albums have been favoured by the jury over the years). The sex-infused Positions saw the Florida singer top the charts in the tail end of 2020.

Her last album, thank u, next, was nominated in the category two years ago.

Others in this group include: Justin Bieber’s Justice, Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News, and H.E.R.’s Back of My Mind.

THE NEWCOMERS This group includes artists that have been bursting onto the scene with their first studio albums, gaining massive commercial success in doing so. The Recording Academy particularly likes this group of artists since they have a higher chance at becoming supernovas.

This list includes albums such as: OLIVIA RODRIGO SOUR LIL NAS X MONTERO Both albums had chart topping singles. Rodrigo even had two No. 1 hits with “drivers license” and “good 4 u,” while Lil Nas X only had “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Both records also received commercial and critical success, showcasing the massive talent and potential of both artists.

Both of these entries are also guaranteed locks at being nominated.

RAP ALBUMS THAT HAVE NO CHANCE OF WINNING, EVEN IF IT WAS THE GREATEST ALBUM EVER MADE GRAPHIC BY JAMES FAY

This group brings together some

amazing rap albums that should be considered as potential winners, but only are on the list because it looks good for the jury to have multiple genres in the category. The same goes for country music, where they’ll often put an album in the mix just to look versatile. After all, artists have made it clear in the past that they’re not happy with how the Grammys categorize them.

This list includes albums such as: TYLER, THE CREATOR CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST KANYE WEST DONDA DRAKE CERTIFIED LOVER BOY Despite how underwhelming and flavourless Certified Lover Boy was, I’ll still include it here for the sole reason that it’s Drake: he does numbers and the jurors usually like him.

As for the two others, they both deserve a nod in the category for being outstanding albums that are in the conversation for the best albums of 2021. Though they each have a good chance of winning in the rap categories, it’s just sad that the Grammys won’t acknowledge them even further because they deserve to have a real shot instead of only serving as placeholders in the category in an attempt for the awards to seem diverse.

THE WILDCARDS These albums could very well compete for the award but all for different reasons. Whether it’s Bad Bunny’s EL ÚLTIMO TOUR DEL MUNDO for its commercial success, while also being a nod to Spanish music, or even Kacey Musgraves’ divorce-themed star-crossed by Kacey Musgraves, it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of these albums being nominated.

Honorary Mention DOJA CAT PLANET HER THE VERDICT While all of these have a shot at the title, on Jan. 31, 2022, at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, the host will read, “and the winner for the Album of the Year is...SOUR by Olivia Rodriguo.” Mark my words.

The Concordian

Sports

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GAMBLING

GRAPHIC BY JAMES FAY

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

From his experience, he explained that on average, 75 per cent of people who suffer from addiction also suffer from a genetic variant of postsynaptic dopamine receptors in the brain.

“There are people who are born with hypo-receptive receptors. With the same level of normal stimulation, they feel much less pleasure.”

In order to feel pleasure, someone who is born with these receptors will ramp up their activity at a higher level than a normal person.

“Addiction has to start somewhere; it starts by liking something too much to the point where you can’t control it anymore,” Dr. Sader said.

The Pros and Cons of Single-Event Sports Betting in Canada With the approval of Bill C-218 in June, what will the consequences be for Canadian sports fans?

BY GABRIEL GUINDI | Assistant Sports Editor

The unpredictability of sport is attractive.

The sudden turning points at the end of a game entertain the masses and leave them on the edge of their seats. That single unexpected play that turned the game on its head sparks discussion and excitement for hours after the last whistle is blown.

For many, that excitement is usually propelled by external elements. The majority are usually booze-fueled; just intoxicated enough to know what’s going on, but too sloppy to contain themselves with the excitement of a closing play.

The minority, however, are fueled by something different: a vice that will now be prevalent in professional sports in North America with the approval of Bill C-218 in June, legalizing single-event sports betting in Canada. That minority might soon become the majority.

Some people find that betting on sports not only provides added excitement, but also keeps those who were once uninterested now glued to the screen. Jack Allen happens to be one of those people. Not being a big sports fan himself, a few single-event side bets on offshore apps like bet365

kept him interested in not only the outcome of the game, but the sport itself.

“[Betting] gave me a reason to actually care about the sport I was watching,” Allen said. “My friends watched sports and I would watch from time to time but wouldn’t really care, but now that betting is involved, I’m more interested in the outcome.”

As of this upcoming season, sports fans will now have the option of betting on multiple factors in one game — the Super Bowl for example — in real time.

According to the Canadian Gaming Association, an estimated 10 billion dollars annually has passed through illegal bookmaking operations. Four billion dollars was spent through offshore betting apps while only 500 million

dollars passed through legal provincial lottery processes. In theory, this bill will supposedly eradicate black market gambling, create jobs, and protect consumers, all while establishing a safe and legal betting option.

Entertainment companies have been on the move since the legalization. From Caesars expanding their online betting platform to Ontario, to BetMGM signing Wayne Gretzky in an attempt to expand from coast to coast, one thing is clear: gaming and entertainment companies are competing to become the conglomerate in Canadian sports gambling.

However, will repeated exposure and accessibility to sports betting affect people who are most vulnerable? With Ted Leonis, owner of the Washington Capitals in the NHL and Wizards of the NBA granting betting kiosks inside their arena, and more teams to follow suit potentially in the future, where in entertainment do we draw the line?

Dr. John Sader is a family physician who also sub-specializes in addiction. Having worked with all types of patients with varying addictions, Sader believes that not everyone is susceptible to the exposure of gambling in sports.

According to Dr. Sader, addiction depends on factors like inherited genetics, and how those genetics manage dopamine releases in the brain when performing a pleasurable task.

The National Council on Problem Gambling released a report before the legalization of single-event betting voicing their concerns over the negative attraction it can have for people, citing that sports betting is twice as likely to occur in comparison to other forms of gambling. With 45 per cent of sports bets conducted online, the rate of exposure and convenience is higher. The report also states that single-event betting offers more betting options on a single game than ever before. The increased speed between bet and reward will also increase the frequency in which people gamble. On top of all this in the age of doing work remotely, people now have more free time on their hands than ever before.

Dr. Sader has personally noticed an uptick in gambling admissions over the course of the pandemic, as people were forced to stay cooped-up inside.

“They can’t go to the restaurant, they can’t go to the movies, they can’t do anything pleasurable.

I can only imagine these hypo-dopamine people are suffering even more.

Then you start to advertise gambling, and they can do it from their home, it’s on the internet, they start playing and they have fun and a lot of them will get caught up in gambling,” Dr. Sader said.

It’s still too early to tell what effect single-event sports betting will have on sports in general, and the people who watch them. In a time of mass consumption, the approval of this bill will increase viewership and revenue for sports leagues across North America, but at what cost?

As for now, the main challenge for many fans this upcoming season will be toeing the fine line between e nt e rt ainme nt and ad d ict ion.

Sports

TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021 FOOTBALL

15 COLOUR COMMENTARY

The Concordian CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

WORLDS 2021 IS HERE THE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND IS UNDERWAY

BY LIAM SHARP | Sports Editor

RSEQ Football MidSeason Report Card Where do the Concordia Stingers rank at this point in the season?

BY CONOR TOMALTY | Contributor

With the second half of the 2021 RSEQ football season underway, the Stingers (3-2) are in third place situated behind the powerhouse first place Montreal Carabins (4-1) and the second place Laval Rouge et Or (4-2), with the Sherbrooke Vert et Or (2-4) and McGill Redbirds (1-5) in the fourth and fifth place spots respectively

Right now, the standings are an honest indication of the overall power rankings for the league. With the Carabins, the Rouge et Or, and the Stingers holding the top three spots, it is without a doubt that these three teams will be battling it out for the top seed.

While the power rankings may label these teams in first, second, and third, the statistics suggest the rankings are much closer than they appear.

arguably one could make the case that they are still the best team in the RSEQ. Besides their narrow defeat to Montreal, Laval suffered an upset loss against Sherbrooke 23-17, giving up 20 points to the Vert et Or in the second quarter alone. Otherwise, Laval tends to dominate; they’re used to doubledigit victories, with the most significant being the 55-2 smackdown they laid on McGill in week five of the season.

Laval is the contemporary juggernaut of the RSEQ: their defence is sound, ranking second in total defence, and most notably, ranking first in interceptions and passing defensive efficiency. If the Montreal Carabins are a multi-dimensional team, the Rouge et Or are no slouches either: Laval ranks second in total offence, first in rushing offence, and first in first downs with 140. It’s fair to say, Laval can find ways to win on both sides of the ball.

If there’s any team muscling their way in this playoff race, it’s the Concordia Stingers. This team seems to be improving with each week — ever-evolving and generating momentum, which has garnered them success. Despite a disappointing 36-10 loss to Laval on Sunday, Stingers starting quarterback Olivier Roy went The Montreal Carabins are the team from his first attempted pass of to beat and top the list coming off a the season being intercepted, bye-week. The team’s only loss was to breaking the single-game against the Stingers 31-28 in a dramatic RSEQ passing yards record come-from-behind win. The other close in the span of a month. The game for the Carabins came against Stingers tout a stellar offence Laval, where Montreal squeaked by that tends to do its best work with a one-point victory 18-17. Other- in the second half, which has wise, the Carabins have balled out with granted them their dramatic three double-digit wins: two against come-from-behind victories.

Sherbrooke and one against McGill.

The Carabins also rank third in total offence and first in total defence. With impressive numbers on both sides of the ball, this multi-dimensional team has been successful for now but is being chased down by two teams who are breathing down their necks.

The Laval Rouge et Or officially find themselves in second place, but

One area Concordia needs to improve on to obtain the top seed, it would be their defence. Ranked fourth in total defence, fifth in rushing defence, and fourth in passing defence, the Stingers have given up an average of 445 yards per game. If the Stingers want to carry their momentum into the

second half of the season, they’ll need to resolve their defensive issues.

This leaves the Sherbrooke Vert et Or and the McGill Redbirds in the fourth and fifth place slots, respectively. Sherbrooke has doled out a few upsets in an otherwise less-thanstellar first half of the season. With a win against Laval, and having gone toe-to-toe in a shootout with Concordia in week four, Sherbrooke can play heartbreaker for whichever playoff contender is yearning for that top seed.

As for the McGill Redbirds, the team’s losing record doesn’t reflect how solid their defensive core truly is. The Redbirds rank high in many defensive categories, including second in pass defence and first in sacks with 17. If it weren’t for their shaky offence, which could only register 22 points in their last three games — including a 21-13 loss to Sherbrooke on Saturday — the Redbirds would be sitting in a better position standings-wise.

After a lengthy hiatus between seasons due to the pandemic, it has been quite an eventful season, and fans can expect many more thrilling games to come.

SPORTS EDITOR LIAM SHARP sports@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT GABRIEL GUINDI

For the past few years, I’ve fallen out of touch with playing League of Legends. But right around this time of the year, when the world championships begin, I constantly find myself catching the action, entranced in the esports competition that never fails to impress.

When my high school friends and I discovered the game in 2010, we had synchronized schedules which enabled us to indulge in our near-nightly tradition for most of my teenage years.

Since then, League of Legends has grown exponentially both in-game and externally from a competitive perspective. While esports and other titles in the gaming industry have subsequently evolved in turn, many gamers credit the early days of League as the birth of the thriving community of gamers we see today.

I’ll load into Summoner’s Rift, the classic and most commonly played map in League of Legends, from time to time nowadays, but my days of grinding solo queue and teaming up with four of my best friends with the far-fetched hopes of going professional are long gone. Definitely for the better.

But I can’t lie; seeing some of the familiar and legendary faces I grew up watching in the League of Legends scene battle it out against the budding young players that are on the cusp of greatness reinvigorates my itch to play the game.

Last year, the World Championship was held in Shanghai, China, in front of a whopping crowd of zero for all the games except for the finals amid the pandemic.

I still had a good time watching the tournament but admittedly, the experience with no fans left a lot to be desired.

Unfortunately, this year’s edition of the tournament in Reykjavík, Iceland, will not have a live audience as well.

As is the case every year, teams gather from a number of different regions to compete for the chance to hoist the Summoner’s Cup and earn the title of World Champion. And as usual, the teams from Korea and China are slated as betting favourites to win it all, with teams from Europe lurking close behind and capable of the dramatic upset on occasion.

North America will once again try to put an end to their everlasting disappointment in international play. I’m rooting for them, but I’ve honestly grown numb to the annual heartbreak and I’ve learned to not take it personally.

Now please excuse me as I shamelessly reacquaint myself with the game and load into Champion Select.

The Concordian

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TUESDAY OCT. 12, 2021

Editorial

You’re not alone in your fatigue affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD). All this includes It’s not just the pre-midterm slumps the accumulated affliction that are getting you down this year. from the past year. It’s importSince March 2020, strict pandemic ant to be compassionate with lockdowns and health safety measures yourself during this phase.

BY THE CONCORDIAN

have kept us predominantly at home for both leisure and work over the course of this year and half. As we gradually return to our pre-COVID schedules, many are feeling more exhausted than usual. But it’s not just you: between July 2021 and September 2021 google searches for the phrase “Why am I tired all the time?” have hit historical highs.

Our muscles are getting used to backpacks and metro rides, we’re adapting to 8 a.m. class discussions and dealing with the emotional drain from daily in-person events. As we approach almost our halfway point during the semester, and the days become shorter, many students may be

In early 2020, when we were first told to remain home, many felt grateful to stop and rest from the flurry of our daily lives, in a phenomenon named “lockdown relief.” It was shortlived. As the pandemic wore on, unemployment sky-rocketed, panic set in various ways, and to date, we have lost 28,186 Canadians to COVID-19, on top of the deaths from those that could not seek proper medical treatment because hospitals were overburdened with the aforementioned virus.

Don’t get us wrong — many are excited to be back to in-person activities. But nevertheless, we’re still reeling, and undergoing, the effects of a year full of changes and loss. Since the expectation

that we would return to in-person learning, there have been mixed reactions.

Results from a poll in May 2021 found our in five Canadians don’t want to return to their pre-pandemic schedules, while some workplaces prepare for the likelihood of burnouts as workers seat themselves at their long-abandoned desks in their company centres. Additionally, 35 per cent of Canadians said they would quit their job in the advent of being forced to return to their workplace.

university to provide better support for the education of international students and those with health concerns.

L a s t we e k , C o n co r d i a responded by releasing a shortterm absence form to offer better support for students with “unexpected physical or psychological health concerns.”

And while this will surely come in handy, we wanted to remind students that you’re not alone, and that reaching out for help Students also had mixed reactions when you need it is important. about going back on campus.They felt Whether that be with profesweary about the logistics of in-person sional help, or calling a friend — and hybrid learning, and rules around we all need support sometimes. vaccine mandates. The CSU released an open letter calling on the university to ameliorate the equitability and quality of the safety measures and accommodations for students. Almost 1,500 people have signed a petition to give themselves the choice over how they attend hybrid classes. The Concordian has also asked

We welcome students back from the (much needed) Thanksgiving break, and we also want to let you know: you’re doing great, and it’s ok to seek out help if it’s getting too much.

We want you.

We’re always looking for writers, photographers and illustrators. Reach out to editor@theconcordian.com to find out how to contribute.

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