The Insider: "VISIONS"

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Making outsiders, Insiders | September 30th, 2020 2020: New Milestones for Black Women in Politics Don't forget we have a Zoom meeting at 1!

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vinsider.ca CAMPUS 3: Orange Shirt Day, Writing Prompts NEWS 4: Why Tina Namiesniowski Resigned Activism 5: Problematic History of John A. MacDonald, Dueles, Colombia 821 Ste-Croix, Saint-Laurent, QC, H4L 3X9 Tel: (514)744-7500, ext. 7059 studentnewspaper@vaniercollege.qc.ca

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Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue 1

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Mel Spiridigliozzi Assistant Editor Sophie Dufresne Executives Natalia Cristina Ibáñez Angélique Chu Miguel Cano Gallo Journey Tran Copy Editors Mel Spiridigliozzi Sophie Dufresne Miguel Cano Gallo Laszlo Joaquin Appelshoffer Contributors Mel Spiridigliozzi Sophie Dufresne Natalia Cristina Ibáñez Angélique Chu Miguel Cano Gallo Journey Tran Jacques Wang Nataliya Nazarova Camila Lewandowski Isabella Del Grosso Maïa Fukuyama Genderless Alien A (retired) Wing-Woman A Hopeless Nihilist Romantic Chelsea Chislett-Rowsell Alex Chneerov Andrea Montes Rexi Marcial Vargas Janie Houle Yvonne Y. F. Kelle (Alumni) Layout Mel Spiridigliozzi Journey Tran

studentnewspaper@ vaniercollege.qc.ca

Hello all!

Dearest Comrades,

It is with great pleasure that I present this semester's I have been successful in my coup, as I have somehow very first issue of The Insider! become Assistant Editor of this Marxist - I meant Student We call this edition "The Visions Issue," so as to encom- - Newspaper, despite the feathers I have ruffled with my pass this idea of the future, regardless of whether or not controversial articles over the past 2 years, and that is exyou believe it to be optimistic, and we decided to approach cluding the ones that have been redacted due to them bethis concept through our themes: Activism, COVID-19, and ing a bit too scandalous.

Technology.

I am very excited to work with the legendary Mel and As always, our amazing contributors have risen up to the iconic team of executives that we have this semester: the challenge to create some great articles, artworks, poMiguel, a computer science student, but I promise, he’s ems, and even some short stories! I'm proud to say that cool, this is easily one of the most content-rich issues we've seen Angel (don’t let their name fool you, they are not to be in a while, and I hope for us to keep this energy going for messed with, last time someone tried to… [REDACTED]), future issues.

Song, or Journey, whom you may know thanks to her Since our on-campus presence is virtually (haha) non- amazing work with VTV - she also designed the cover, and, existent, we'll be distributing our issues through a link on of course, Omnivox. The links to our recent issues have also been Natalia, who is always there to let me know when my made available on our website (www.vinsider.ca) under moral compass is - ah - “not in tune” "Latest Issues," so feel free to support us by giving them a *smiles at my FBI agent watching*. read and by sharing them with friends.

As much as I'll miss the excitement in the Newsroom I’ve rambled enough. Enjoy the very first online issue of (D-168) on distribution day, I'm glad that there is still a way The Insider! for us to remain up and running. Here's to hoping that the future executive team will manage to bring that room, as well as the print issues, back to life in a non-pandemic context.

Sophie Dufresne, Given that this is my last semester at Vanier, I'm cur- Assistant Editor rently in search of someone who is willing to take over my position as editor-in-chief. I'd be happy to begin training some potential successors, so feel free to shoot me a MIO if this interests you.

As always, my MIOs, the student newspaper email, as well as our Instagram dms remain open for both submissions and inquiries!

With all that being said, I bid thee good day and happy reading!

Mel Spiridigliozzi, Editor-in-Chief

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Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue 1

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Orange Shirt Day: September 30.

CAMPUS

The Importance of Orange Shirt Day

Sophie Dufresne

Why wear an orange shirt on September 30th?

To put it simply, it is to commemorate and honour residential school survivors. It is to remember the physical, mental, and sexual

abuse they had to ensure, as well as the inter-generational trauma that ensued within Indigenous communities. “The Problematic History of John A. MacDon-

ald,” an article by Angel found in the “Activism” section, addresses these atrocities in more depth.

But why on September 30th? And why an orange shirt?

September 30th was the date chosen, as it was around that time of the year when trucks and buses were used to trespass and kidnap Indigenous children

from their communities in order to force them into the horrible living and learning (read: brainwashing and cultural genocide) conditions that characterized these residential schools.

The story of how this became known as “Orange Shirt Day” started when Phyllis Webstad, a six year old First Nations girl, entered the St. Joseph Mission Residential School wearing an orange shirt instead of the institutional uniform.

The shirt was brand new, and, for an Indigenous child growing up in their grandmother’s care, new clothes were extremely rare and prized possessions. Nevertheless, the missionaries

remorselessly robbed her of it, replacing it with the mandatory uniform.

Despite only attending the residential school for one year, the effects it had on Ms. Webstad lasted for several years: “I finally get it, that feeling of worthlessness and insignificance, ingrained in me from my first day at the mission, affected the way I lived my life for many years. Even now, when I know nothing could be further than the truth, I still sometimes feel that I don’t matter.”

Her story is only one among approximately 150 000 - 2 800 of which tell the story of kids aged 4 to 16 who “lost their lives” (i.e.

WRITING PROMPTS

were murdered due to not only the negligence, but the brutality of the Canadian government) in residential schools. Nonetheless, it is the one that inspired a nationwide movement to ensure that every child matters.

So, on Wednesday, September 30th (today), please wear an orange shirt to your zoom classes (and turn your camera on)!

There will also be a zoom meeting at 1 pm, which will be hosted by the Indigenous Studies Coordinator in commemoration of this day.

Here is the link: https:// us02web.zoom.us/j/8377 0531125?pwd=alVFaW1M MXVORkdBZlA1N0FxNFZF dz09 Meeting ID: 837 7053 1125 Passcode: EveryChild

It is a simple gesture to show your solidarity with Indigenous communities.

VTV has also put together a tribute video with the help of the Vanier community in honour and in memory of those who survived, as well as those who did not.

"If I were a song..."

Chelsea Chislett-Rowsell

If I were a song, I would be “Salt Water Joys” by Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. It is a song dedicated to Newfoundland, which discusses the land and people’s lifestyles.

The song reminds me of my small hometown and how free it makes me feel. Listening to this song makes me miss home and our lifestyle: we have beautiful landscapes, we enjoy nature and being outside, and we have close-knit groups. This song reminds me of how differently I grew up compared to my peers from the city, since big cities have a different vibe than my hometown.

If I were this song and I gave someone that feeling of representation and that it is okay to make a change when needed, it would be a job well done. To remind someone of who they are and of where they came from, as well as to give them a feeling of balance or pride in their life would be amazing.

About Our Last Online Class ...

Your (retired) Wing-Woman Comrade, I’m addressing this letter to you so as to acknowledge the gravity of my error…I really shouldn’t have tried to set you up with your Zoom crush.

However, in my defense, given that I was at least on speaking terms with the person you pointed out, I figured that the outcome would be at least somewhat ideal (?)

How was I supposed to know that, upon the mere mention of your name, they would end up ranting about the absurdity of your belief system!? In any case, you should be proud to have made such a lasting impression in that politics class, even if it was on an unsuspecting selfproclaimed “die-hard capitalist.”

That being said, I wish you the best of luck in finding your ideological equal, and I promise to try not to meddle.

Sincerely,

Dear (Retired) Wing-Woman

A hopeless nihilist romantic Dear (retired) Wing-Woman,

I accept your apology, but I am still baffled at the audacity you exhibited during that Zoom class!! How dare you attempt to set me up with a CAPITALIST?? You nearly exposed my admiration for him in the process!

I was quite shocked when you showed me the conversation you had with him; I attempted to give you a death stare through our screens, uncaring of how strange it may have seemed to our peers and teacher.

I accept your apology, but this is not even the first time you fail at wing-woman-ing! Remember what happened last time? You gave me this guy’s number and I drunk texted him, only to have you laugh at me once he showed you the convo!

I accept your apology, but please leave my unrequited love life alone!

-A hopeless nihilist romantic

Your (retired) Wing-woman

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue1

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NEWS 2020: New Milestones for Black Women in Politics Jacques Wang

Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 will be best remembered for the year where racial tensions have reached a boiling point that hasn’t been seen in decades.

Fear, distrust and anger are some of the words that would best describe what BIPOC feel following the deaths of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, and many others due to police brutality.

lier regime.

dian political party.

Rouge Park.

Born and raised in Montreal, Anglade entered politics in 2011 to become the first president of the CAQ. However, because of the CAQ's approach to ethnic and immigration issues, she switched to the Liberals in 2015 and served as Deputy Premier and Economic Development Minister under Philippe Couillard.

However, little attention was given to Anglade's historical accession outside of Quebec. The Liberals remain confident that Dominique Anglade's message of economic nationalism, progressivism and environmentalism could win over some Quebecers and make Anglade the first Black Premier of Quebec.

Despite losing by 13 000 votes, Lewis was already noted by many media outlets to be a remarkable candidate and a shining star in the Conservative Party.

Leslyn Lewis Following the Conservative Party's loss in 2019, Andrew Scheer resigned in December of that year, thus triggering a leadership election. One of the four official candidates was the relatively unknown Toronto-based lawyer Leslyn Lewis.

Amid these circumstances, important milestones have been set in 2020, specifically in politics. Here are three women who have set new firsts in Quebec, Canadian and American politics, respectively.

Dominique Anglade On June 27, 2019, The Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for SaintHenri—Sainte-Anne, Dominique Anglade, became the first person to announce her candidacy to run for leadership of the QLP. Anglade is the daughter of the late writer and academic Georges Anglade, who self-exiled to Quebec in late 1960 because of his opposition to Haiti's Duva-

Dominique Anglade was acclaimed as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party and Leader of the Official Opposition on May 11, 2020, after her sole competitor, former Drummondville mayor Alexandre Cusson, dropped out. This date made Anglade the first woman to lead the Quebec Liberal Party and the first woman of colour to lead any major Cana-

Leslyn Lewis was born in Jamaica and emigrated to Canada at the age of five.

Lewis earned her Juris Doctor and Ph.D. in international law from the Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

She also has a Masters of Environmental Studies, a distinction not commonly associated with the Tories.

In 2015, she ran as a lastminute candidate for the Conservative Party in the riding of Scarborough—

both the first and second ballots, garnering respectively 20.5% and 30% of votes.

What's next for Leslyn Lewis? Well, on September 15, 2020, the former leadership candidate announced that she would seek the Conservative nomination in the rural Ontario riding of Haldimand—Norfolk, opening a bright future for a newcomer in politics.

Kamala Harris

Leslyn Lewis was one of two candidates in the leadership election that ran as a social conservative. Unlike her other rivals, Lewis managed to have support amongst all conservative spheres. By using her slogan of courage, compassion and common sense, Lewis was focused on appealing to conservative immigrants who, like her, always voted for the Liberals.

Despite her lack of political experience and her inability to speak French fluently, she came third on

In a CNN presidential debate, Biden had announced that his VP pick would be a woman. At the height of the George Floyd protests, Joe Biden finally revealed his long-awaited running mate, California Senator and former presidential candidate, Kamala Harris.

in Oakland, California to a mother of Indian descent and a father of Jamaican descent. Harris spent her adolescence in NDG and graduated from Westmount High while her mother taught at McGill University.

Before being elected to the United States Senate in 2016, Harris served as the Attorney General of California and the District Attorney of San Francisco.

Harris gained national attention for her progressive senatorial record and her scrutiny of multiple Trumpappointed judicial nominees. She announced her candidacy for president of the United States in 2019, but, months after suspending her presidential campaign, Harris is back in the spotlight, this time as Joe Biden's running mate.

Harris is the first AfricanAmerican, first Asian-American and third woman to become the vice-presidential nominee on a major party ticket.

However, the fate of the 2020 United States presidential elections remains in the voters' hands.

Kamala Harris was born

The Real Reason Tina Namiesniowski Resigned Sophie Dufresne

Tina Namiesniowski, the former president of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), resigned on September 18th. This is 18 months after having been appointed to the job, and just as COVID-19 cases started to spike nationwide.

In a statement, she said, “You really need someone who will have the energy and the stamina to take the Agency and our response to the next level.” She also added that the work the PHAC has done during the past months has had a personal toll on several people, including herself, and that she wishes she could have done more.

The agency has received a lot of backlash under the Namiesniowski administration, including when it was reported that, in early June,

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as businesses were starting to reopen, the PHAC struggled to maintain a steady inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE) used to ensure the safety of medical professionals, essential workers, and other citizens.

Not only did they simply not have enough supply to meet the high demand of PPE, but issues with quality control arose when the PHAC delivered around 10 million [note from the writer: some sources say one million, so 10 million may be an exaggeration on the part of the source I used…

I guess even Global News is subject to bias] defective medical-grade N95 respirator masks that had been imported from China.

Furthermore, in May 2019, under seven months before the start of the glob-

al outbreak of COVID-19, the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), developed by the PHAC in 1997 to act as a “pandemic early warning system” for Canada and for the World Health Organization (WHO), was shut down; its officials were reassigned to other government positions and forced into silence.

right, Tina Namiesniowski was appointed president of the PHAC.

The cause for this sudden shutdown? The PHAC decided that the GPHIN was too focused on the international stage and, since there had been no pandemic scares recently, funding this preventative tool was considered a waste. This is even despite the praises it had gotten in the past by the WHO and even by Google, who offered to buy it in 2008.

In addition, experienced scientists reported that their voices were no longer being heard by the PHAC, as critical information collected within the first weeks of the outbreak never even reached the government.

Guess what else happened in May 2019? That’s

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue 1

When the virus was finally detected internationally, Canada was one of the most ill-prepared when it could have potentially been the most prepared, or even been the first to detect the spread of the novel coronavirus.

On September 8th, Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Health Minister, ordered an independent review of what really happened to the GPHIN and why scientists weren’t taken seriously by the PHAC senior staff during the early

stages of COVID-19.

Then, on September 18th, Tina Namiesniowski resigned.

Now, this is not a conspiracy theory article, as I am only writing what I know to be factual. It is now up to you, readers, to draw your own conclusions based on what I have outlined for you.

What do you think this review will reveal? Why did no one listen to the scientists’ early warnings concerning the pandemic? Why was the GPHIN, considered by the WHO to be “the foundation of a global pandemic

early warning system,” shut down seven months before the century’s worst global pandemic?

Is it a coincidence that after 22 years of operation, the only system in the world that could have been able to detect it before December 2019 was mysteriously shut down?

If it detected an outbreak in Uganda that killed only two people, could it not have detected the first two cases of the novel coronavirus when they occurred, a date that is still unknown to the world?

ACTIVISM The Problematic History of John A. MacDonald Angélique Chu

The John A. MacDonald statue at Place du Canada was toppled and beheaded by protestors during a protest calling to defund the police.

Banners flew next to the decapitated monument, touting all his not-so-savoury exploits. This move was divisive, as some have long- heralded for the removal of the statue whereas as others, such as François Legault, disagreed with the move.

This discussion is not a new one either, as many opinions about the controversial figure have been shared within the past few years. If you took history class in Canada, the name John A. MacDonald may seem very familiar to you. It most likely because he was the first Prime Minister of Canada, his most famous feat. He also happens to be

the figure on the ten-dollar bill.

Despite having the title of first Prime Minister, his past is tarnished with questionable and problematic decisions, many of which are not known to the common Canadian.

Our nation’s past must not be forgotten; however, we must acknowledge all events, especially the ones we have now come to regret. This is a brief history of the atrocities of John A. MacDonald.

In 1878, the plains suffered the disastrous and sudden loss of the bison which was caused by American overhunting. The bison were the primary source of food and clothing for the Indigenous population. The Blackfoot, in an area now known as Calgary, were forced to eat grass as a means to survive.

Instead of sending aid to the suffering communities, MacDonald he said: “I have reason to believe that the agents as a whole [… ] are doing all they can, by refusing food until the Indians are on the verge of starvation, to reduce the expense.”

With the disastrous state of the plains, the prime

minister took advantage of the situation to enforce his National Policy, which included building a railroad to the Pacific. His policy drove hundreds of Natives to reserves.

These places were illequipped with few agricultural supplies, yet the relocated Indigenous folk were expected to immediately grow food if they wished to sustain themselves. With the reserves on the verge of famine, the government “generously”, and I use that term very loosely, provided food that was often rancid. Most of it came from corrupt suppliers. “Flour” provided to a Cree reserve was in actuality sweepings from a grist mill; tainted flour ended up killing 20 of Alberta’s Kanai First Nations in 1883.

In 1883, MacDonald founded the first residential school, and 130 other schools of the same nature were soon found across the entire nation.

To quote the man himself: “When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with his parents who are savages; he is surrounded by savages … He is simply a savage who can read and write.”

This forced assimilation of the Indigenous population went on until the last residential school was officially shut down in 1996.

For those of you who are not talented with math, the closure was less than 30 years ago, 24 years ago if we want to be precise.

and drugs. This has led to the fracturing of many Native communities, as their trauma has infected newer generations. These communities have seen high suicide rates and early mortality rates that have yet to be properly addressed by the government.

Over a hundred years of residential schools have caused irreparable intergenerational trauma among Indigenous communities, trauma that is ongoing to this day. Survivors have recounted horrible stories about being ripped away

During his time as prime minister, MacDonald made his distaste for Chinese well known. In 1885, he enacted the Chinese head tax, which was meant to curb Chinese immigration after construction on the Pacific Railway ended.

from their families at a young age and about the abuse they suffered under the leadership of the schools.

Many have shared stories about being emotionally, physically, and sexually abused my members of the Church during their time in these establishments. To cope with the trauma, some survivors turned to alcohol

From 1885 to 1923, Chinese people had to pay from 50 to 500 dollars to immigrate to Canada under the Chinese Immigration Act. In the same year of 1885, he declared that the Chinese were a threat to the “Aryan” nation of Canada and established the Electoral Franchise Act.

ers”. MacDonald believed that the Chinese and Europeans were separate species, as well as that it was necessary for the Chinese to be excluded.

If they were not excluded, he stated, “the Aryan character of the future of British America should be destroyed . . .” Later in life, he declared that this legislation was his “greatest triumph, ” but it was more so a triumph in bigotry, now that historians look back on it.

This summary of our first prime minister’s abhorrent actions may not be the longest, nor the most comprehensive, but it is important that they do come to light.

To name every horrible instance in his career would simply be impossible to cover equally and dutifully.

However, I do hope that you do look into the past of our founders, such as John A. MacDonald, on your own time.

History is bound to repeat itself if we do not learn from our predecessors and their mistakes. In 2020, we should head this warning, for a storm is brewing.

The latter excluded Chinese immigrants from voting, as they were “foreign-

Dueles, Colombia Natalia Cristina Ibáñez I ask my dad about what he thinks about the growing unrest back in our country, Colombia. “It is a chronicle of a death foretold,” he answers. He’s right.

point in its anger towards the status quo, but then again, I say this every year.

Every time Colombian authorities slaughter, rape, or rob.

Following massacres of social leaders, on September 9th, Colombian police slaughtered Javier Ordoñez, a 43-year-old lawyer, and the evidence of the killing went viral on social media, sparking student-led protests against the systemic violence the police and the state consistently impose on Colombian citizens.

I think of the Paro Nacional that took place last year,

These protests were held in the country’s capital, Bogota.

I would say that the country has reached a boiling

and the protests the year before, and those twenty years ago. I even dare to say that Colombia is a nation that has never known peace, and neither have the most vulnerable among its people.

How could it, truly? It

is a country built on the violence of genocide and colonization. It is one that rose from the ashes of the Spanish regime to become a violently unstable and polarized nation from the very beginning.

Police are killing people left and right, and this has been proven by the 12 bodies murdered in the name of the status quo by the police during the aforementioned protests.

In all honesty, the army, and the government for

that matter, are also responsible for this killing as activists charging forward for change and progress are slaughtered for sport.

Thus, civil unrest against the government’s economic and social policies is breaking out, propelled by the pandemic, and as many feel our society collapsing. After a long history of bloodshed, hope is running short, yet frustrations are higher than ever.

Vanier.

for Colombian children.

I wish these words were enough, or that I had solutions to offer. All I can do is write this pain and stand in solidarity with the warriors of Colombian society who are rising up against oppression despite the hopelessness, the dangers, the fears, in order to perhaps have a chance at writing a different, more hopeful, future

There’s a beauty in the struggle, I believe. I’m in Montreal, yet I can hear the cries of pain and the song of angry people, wishing and praying to see a tomorrow that won’t be stained with blood.

I wish I could do more than simply write an article for a student newspaper about the atrocities that are occurring in Colombia in the hopes to raise awareness about the situation, a problem that often runs ignored, among the bright minds of

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue1

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Those Who Do Nothing Miguel Cano Gallo

Waking up to another day of a pandemic means more time disappearing to every day actions and new endeavours, all to avoid losing one’s mind in the midst of the chaos that the world seems to have fallen into.

In some countries, the pandemic has started to show its damage. In others, the pandemic has become an outbreak of hate and disdain. We are burning, and, in some cities, this expression becomes literal.

People are fighting for their rights, while governments burn for their actions (or the lack thereof); the historically oppressed communities are tired of brutality and indifference.

They have put their rights and their hope for a better future before their fear of getting infected by a virus, which has taken almost one million lives world-

wide; the virus, violence, hate, and indifference has, not only killed people, but it has killed the respect for life itself. People fight, and people want change, yet I do nothing.

“History doesn’t remember the bland,” my grandfather would say, hating on those who do nothing and whose political opinions appear to be non-existent because (and I agree) “everything is a political action.”

Therefore, how can one be remembered in a political world when they lack a political position?

This way of thinking is a problem, one that is rooted in the statement itself because, if everything is political, doing nothing then becomes a political action; ironically, this fact was proven in the city that saw my grandfather grow: Medellin.

Poster promoting a conversational forum by Gonzalo Arango in the early 1950s. The poster says “Colombian poetry is dead: The Nadaism”

Medellin witnessed the birth of one of the most prominent counter-culture movements in Latin-America, one that acted as a direct response to the conservative Colombian culture, as well as the brutality that originated from a classic clash of ideological powers.

servative and liberal ideologies.

This movement, in its own way, resembled the Nihilists of late 19th-century Russia in that both movements, led by intellectuals, proposed a revolutionary position against oppressive systems.

Many of the events that changed our history were born out of ideas that inspired true radical change, as shown in the French and the Russian Revolutions, as well as in the Black Panthers of the ’60s and the current

Medellin witnessed the birth of Nadaism (a mix of the Spanish word for nothing, “nada,” and the suffix -ism, denoting a school of thought); with it, came the generation of nada, a young counterculture which, different from its Russian cousin that was based on the idea that “the Tsar must die,” saw nothingness as their way to oppose the violence deeply-rooted in the country.

A generation of poets, writers, and artists started condensing this feeling of helplessness, which the political disarray had instilled in them. The main topics of these works were the lack of a future, the dismissal of political opinions, and the idea of rejecting both con-

It seems counterintuitive to consider doing nothing as a revolutionary act.

We didn’t get most of our civil liberties through people staying home and not fighting oppressive governments.

Black Lives Matter movement.

These are examples of proactive revolutions, made up of people with a strong will and need for change.

In the eyes of history, these are the people that earn a place among the ones who make a difference.

However, doing nothing proved itself to be a different way of pushing for a change. As Gonzalo Arango (one of the found-

ers of the movement) says in his Nadaist Manifesto: “Destroying an order is at least as difficult as creating it. Faced with an undertaking of such great proportions, we give up destroying the established order. The fundamental aspiration of Nadaism is to discredit that order.”

This shows that, since it is impossible to destroy the established order, by not taking any politically-motivated action, the Nadaist runs away from the system and diminishes the impor-

tance of the aforementioned order in one’s life.

Thus, “doing nothing,” perceived as a lack of action, gets redefined as doing something that lacks a political reason; writing, painting, singing, become actions that discourage the system, and represent the loss of hope for a better future, while we are stuck in a fight of powers that will never change.

Doing nothing is not revolutionary because it was never intended to be, but freeing oneself from classic ideologies and the idealistic conception of change is still a way to go against the established rule.

So, returning to my original reflection, my grandfather is right in the sense that those who passionately fight for a better future will eventually reach it; they are the ones who have changed the world in a significant manner.

Those with a strong sense of justice and with respect for their ideals are the ones who make their way onto the pages of history books.

While the world is undergoing significant change at this point in time, I do nothing; I write, I sing, and I think, knowing that I will not be seen as a major revolutionary. I don’t fight for a change because I deem myself unable to change the way the world is organized.

I sit, I write, and I wish my friends who fight for a change good luck in their ordeal because, in the end, I am one of “those who do nothing.”

ENVIRONMENT Intersections on Climate Justice Road Mel Spiridigliozzi

Despite rising COVID-19 cases, there’s no hiding the fact that greenhouse gas emission, sea levels, and global temperatures continue to rise as well. Therefore, there was no stopping Montreal youth from participating in the Global Youth Climate Strike on September 26.

As per the request of the organizers, participants gathered at Place du Canada by 1pm, having donned their masks and made their picket signs; a particularly

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poignant one read “Ça va bien brûler,” a take on the phrase made popular during stay-at-home mandates amid the pandemic: “Ça va bien aller.”

discarded children’s shoes, representing the gravity of climate change’s impacts on the lives of future generations.

Their purpose? To implore the powers to be to take action so as to eventually achieve climate justice.

“This is to represent the bleakness really of their future," emphasized Dr. Kelly Martin, a member of the group.

To demonstrate the urgency of this demand, a temporary art installation was enacted by For Our Kids Montréal. Members of this group set up rows of

Though this demand for climate justice may seem straight-forward, it is more multifaceted than some may be led to believe. In fact, aside from demanding

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue 1

carbon neutrality by 2030, the strikers’ demands specifically included: the regu-

larization of migrant rights, racial justice, and decolonization. As such, the fight for

Mother Nature is inherently intersectional.

With the effects of climate change becoming more rampant, there are bound to be environmental refugees, who should be allowed the same rights as average citizens.

As the impacts of climate change disproportionately affect people of a lowersocioeconomic class and BIPOC, climate justice is also racial justice.

Because our history of colonization involved both the marginalization and land dispossession of BIPOC, particularly of Indigenous communities, to enable the colonizers’ relentless exploitation of that land’s natural resources, climate justice must also in-

volve decolonization.

Lylou Sehili, a spokesperson for the Student Coalition for an Environmental and Social Shift, alludes to these ideas when expressing the importance of having an intersectional approach to the fight for climate justice: "There may be people who are going to be afraid, but these causes go hand-in-hand. Everything is connected, everything

comes from the same system of oppression."

As racial justice and decolonization are inherently part of climate justice, the organizers of the strike also emphasized how Indigenous sovereignty, as well as defunding the police, are key in this fight.

"These police forces operate on the principles of an

oppressive state, the colonization made on the lands of the Wet'suwet'en nation in British Columbia to exploit oil. It is the same oppression that is present in the SPVM report, which indicates that Natives are more likely to be subjected to police arrests," explains Sehili.

As shown in the ongoing Wet’suwet’en land crisis, Indigenous communities continue to be systemati-

cally dispossessed of their lands in favour of Coastal GasLink’s pipeline project, which will inevitably harm both the environment and the Indigenous communities’ way of life as a result.

The RCMP is an institution that is instrumental in enabling these harmful impacts by arresting protestors in the community, particularly women, and by dissolving the protests so as to enforce Coastal GasLink’s illegally granted court injunction.

(Be sure to read Natalia Cristina Ibáñez’s “You Should Care About Wet’suwet’en” and Mel Spiridigliozzi’s “You Should Still Care About Wet’suwet’en” on our web-

site to learn more about this issue.)

Therefore, as long as systems of othering and exploitation, which are protected by the police, are at the core of how our society functions, climate justice MUST require social justice, hence the specific demands made by the organizers of the strike that were fervently supported by its participants.

To think otherwise points to one’s position of privilege, for how can the system possibly be made to cease exploiting Mother Nature if it continues to neglect the wellbeing of others, particularly BIPOC?

Three Tips on How to Protect Mother Nature Yvonne Y. F. Kelle

The current corona pandemic has not only caused all of us throughout this world inconvenience, troubled lives and misery, but it has also created problems for the environment.

This is definitely not a good sign. It is also known that our planet’s ozone layer is already damaged, and we have been alerted to protect the Earth because of climate change.

Have a look at the cover photo of this article (below). Many of us will realise that, before the coronavirus came about, we had never, or at least very seldom, seen unwanted facial masks on the ground. Now, we see them everywhere, be it on hiking trails or on the pavement.

If we do not start now to protect our planet, it will soon be too late and there is no turning back from the damage that we are causing to Mother Nature.

It has even been reported on news channels that there has been a rise in the amount of debris dumped into the sea.

Examples of such debris include plastic surgical gloves and facial masks.

Such a phenomenon brings about a life-threatening nuisance to the natural habitat of the ocean's animals.

What can one do to sustain a healthy Mother Nature? Below are three tricks on what you can do in your

everyday life to play your part as a responsible global citizen.

Do Not Litter Firstly, make sure you are not a “litter monster” (i.e. do not throw garbage on the ground or into the sea, but in rubbish bins).

You may have seen muesli bar packaging or juice boxes tossed onto the ground on hiking trails, or, since the occurrence of the corona pandemic, surgical gloves and facial masks dumped inappropriately into the ocean.

These are exactly the acts of those who do not love our planet. There is no verified proof that such deeds encourage a reversal of climate change or promote the enlargement of the hole in the ozone layer, but they surely contribute to a beautiful nature.

Therefore, make sure you do not lose your mask absent-mindedly by letting it fall from your pocket or handbag. Whether you are having a bite on the go, or munching on a Rice Krispies during a walk in the woods, if you cannot locate a rubbish bin, do not dump your garbage on the ground - keep the packaging with you until you find the next available bin.

Sometimes, you may have to keep it until you reach your office or your home. However, it is worth doing so - no one wants a “crying and sad” Mother Nature, right?

Save Water

that helps save water, an important resource that we all need every day.

Believe it or not: you can save water by putting a brick inside the toilet tank

at home. It does not take a genius with an IQ of 120 to understand that when a brick, which takes up the volume of one liter of water, is placed inside the tank, the latter fills itself with less water after a flush.

If all offices, schools, and every one of us were to practice this trick of mine, which was instructed to me by my grade 3 teacher in Montreal, we would be sav-

ing more water than we can imagine (perhaps millions or even billions of liters of water each day).

Again, this needs everyone’s cooperation, not just

the “3R Concept”: reuse, reduce, recycle. Reuse your water bottle, reduce the amount of garbage you generate,and recycle glass, plastics, metals, as well as

in one country, but in the entire world.

paper.

Recycle Thirdly, take part in your local recycling system. We produce so much garbage daily. This is exactly why we need to recycle plastics, metals and paper so that they can be renewed.

You may have heard of

It does not take much effort to participate in recycling; everyone can do it.

Simply rinse the recyclable material from your cooking and put it in a paper carton, which you empty only once a week into the big green bin at your house, which gets then emptied by the city. It is as simple as that!

In the aforementioned paragraphs, there are only three tips on what you can easily do to protect the environment.

Mother Nature belongs to all of us; it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to sustain it with love and a bit of perseverance.

Secondly, here is a trick

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue1

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ARTS

Some Thoughts on Ancient History Mel Spiridigliozzi

My grandfather amidst An earthquake, A stone-hard marble pillar Of a man, Remains cold, always, Even to the touch; He holds up his end Of the fortress With clipped words, Riddled with hard edges That slip through the cracks Of a curled upper lip.

Be One With Nature Andrea Montes

My grandfather amidst The aftermath, Some stone-hard marble ruins Of a man, Remains still, always, Even when watched; He holds up his pieces Of the crumbling site With resonating silence, Amplified by a sense of finality That draws in the ears Of wandering pilgrims.

Salt of The Earth Marcial Vargas

Inexistence Genderless Alien

There is a debate in society On whether or not I exist.

Not on whether or not I should exist, Or on whether or not I deserve rights, But on whether or not I exist.

The sheer thought Of the possibility I might wake up tomorrow, To learn that I don't exist, That I might unite with the void, Melt into nothingness, Have the memory of me erased from this planet, All because the conservatives emerged victorious From this debate, And the world must accept the harsh truth: "Everyone is either male or female, There is no such thing as 'genderless' individuals."

Puts a smile on my face, to be honest!

HĂŠlas, to not exist...

Untitled Janie Houle

Minnie Mouse Rexi

Regression Sophie Dufresne

Nothing is permanent, So why should my anxiety be?

Dark clouds are carried off by strong winds, Storms are drained dry, Hurricanes exist to self-destruct.

Every cloud's fate is to dissipate, Every ray of sunshine dies out, Every mean is returned to.

Math was never my forte though, So how can I find the mean of my anxiety?

Current Affairs Depressed Asian

Racism is dead In their eyes but not in mine I will not forget I am dead inside But I continue to live To spite all of them Dear mom, I am sad 'Cause of what my life became I want to improve Home was never here It was inside all along Living in our hearts I am not your doll I will not be soft for you I will not be yours

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Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue 1

The man who lived.

Nataliya Nazarova

To all the people that died during this time of pandemic The kettle was boiling in the kitchen, and Simon poured himself a cup of tea. Every morning, he drank from the same cup given by his sister who had passed away.

She was a wonderful girl; she always supported her younger brother in all his endeavors, often called and worried about him. Unfortunately, she never had a family: she was a lawyer, loved her career, devoted all her time to work and thought that everything was still ahead of her.

Six months ago, she was hurrying to work because she had overslept. The day before she had spent the evening in the company of a nice young man. Being in a state of euphoria, she did not notice that they stayed up late at night. And in the morning, she ran out into the street, throwing on a burgundy raincoat that she had bought on a business trip. Sleepy-eyed, she looked up at the gray sky, the rain was drizzling outside, and she wished she hadn't put on such a light raincoat. A thick fog hung over the city, making it difficult to see passers-by. She decided to run across the road at the red light, thinking once again that she would be lucky. But that day everything was different: a speeding car hit the girl who it seemed only yesterday tasted the joy of life and the company of the evening guest.

Simon blew on his tea and cast a blank look at the street: oddly enough, it was also raining that day. It was March, the most unpleasant month in Canada, when there are no leaves on the trees, snow still on the roofs, and slush on the sidewalks. The snow is dirty, and the weather changes dramatically every day from warm to freezing. The young man looked at the pile of dishes, then at the pages of his unfinished manuscript scattered around the apartment, then back at the pile of dishes. He was desperate. It was the end of the month and he promised to hand over the manuscript to the editor today. There it was, lying on the floor. "How will I justify myself," he thought to himself. He automatically picked up the phone to call his sister, but when he came to his senses, he abruptly threw it on the sofa. He went to his wardrobe.

There were t-shirts of the same color, and three plaid shirts; he gave the other three to a neighbor to wash.

His neighbor was an amazing woman. She was about seventy years old, but she deftly entered into a political debate with Simon about local government, peppering her young friend with all sorts of arguments. She had met Simon as soon as he moved into the apartment. She had been receiving guests that day, and when she saw a plain, modestly dressed young man, she decided to invite him for a cup of coffee right away. So their friendship began.

Simon didn't have many friends, and it wasn't because he was angry or unfriendly, not at all! It's just that he didn't find common topics for conversation with his peers, who in their free time preferred to go to a restaurant or drink beer while watching TV. He also loved watching hockey on TV, and once went to the Bell center with his nephew. He never refused a steak and had often gone to “Les 3 Brasseurs�, indulging in a luxurious dinner. He was such a frequent guest there that the waiters remembered him, knowing what kind of meat he preferred and how he liked it overdone. However, his main interests were different, from other people. He followed politics, and also read a book about the climate and how it has changed over the past centuries. In his entire life, he did not get very close to anyone, it was difficult for him to find like-minded people, and he was not very sociable.

On the landing, another neighbor's dog ran up to him from the apartment to his left. He had long been attracted to this neighbor, and she had shown an interest in him. The dog always knew that Simon had a sausage in his right pocket, which he brought especially for him. The dog named Robert wagged his tail, looking with his wonderful eyes into the eyes of a kindred spirit. Simon took out the sausage and handed it to a four-legged friend. The neighbor only blushed; waving her hands, saying it's not worth it. Simon stood and smiled, and he liked the way she blushed, and he also liked the feeling that he had done good today. Even if it was small, it was still a kind gesture that is sometimes so lacking in our world.

At work, his boss called him about the dismissal of a young writer who was already late with a manuscript for the third time. For the first time in three months, he went to the editorial office that had been closed for quarantine, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Everyone worked from home, coming to work only when necessary.

Simon was silent, knowing that he was going to have an unpleasant conversation. The boss was sorry to fire the writer, because he knew that Simon had potential.

He also said that the editorial budget decreased because of the crisis.

The writer had no choice but to return to the bus stop. There he met a man who worked at McDonald's across the street from the newsroom. This man had come from Bangladesh twenty years ago, lived with his family in Saskatchewan, then divorced and moved to Montreal. He was also recently fired his job due to the pandemic and has been working at the fast food restaurant for a month now.

"What happened?" "What is it?" he asked.

"Fired..." said Simon - Don't worry, I'll help you with your work, I have contacts.

The man gave him his number and left. In the evening, Simon became ill. His temperature rose, and he felt dizzy.

He couldn't even get out of bed. At this moment, he felt lonely, sad and melancholy, he had no one to look after him.

The next morning, he couldn't smell or taste anything. He turned on the TV to distract himself. The news announced that the number of cases was only increasing. Simon sighed, turned away, and fell asleep.

A week later, Simon's soul was far away. People gathered in front of his house, hoping that he was happy up there and that he had met his sister. The March wind blew fiercely in their faces, and people shivered, not from the cold, but from their own thoughts.

The elderly neighbor left three washed shirts in memory of Simon. The dog was whining, and the young girl was crying. She alone felt that she had lost some precious. The man at the bus stop was silent, his throat dry. The waiter was standing without a jacket; he abruptly broke and ran from the restaurant. The boss of the publishing company looked up at the sky, tears streaming down his petrified face.

People from all over the area slowly gathered at the entrance; it turned out that many people knew him, although they previously pretended not to notice him.

People felt the raindrops turn into snowflakes as the March weather took its toll.

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue1

9

The Dancer and The Hill Miguel Cano Gallo

The Dancer walked down the Hill with the perfect excuse of a fair taking place at the Village.

He had never danced for people other than himself before; nonetheless, he was convinced that the Village shall have the right to see his body moving at the rhythm of the drums and the melody of the lutes.

The Dancer found people on the road who would ask him: “Where are you going with those fancy clothes?”

Innocent and arrogant he would answer: “To let others see what no one has seen yet.”

The arrogance that blinded him made him ignore the fact that the Hill had seen his dance before, and she was growing jealous of the Village, because the Village, filthy and inattentive, would never have the spirit to appreciate the beauty of his movements.

Driven by this jealously, the Hill started putting all kinds of magical sounds in the Dancer’s way, and the naive dancer, amused by the sounds of nature, couldn’t stop his body from making the most wonderful movements that were ever seen on Earth: His hands started shaping the air while his feet drew kisses on the ground; dancing along the road, he crossed forests, trees, clouds, and rivers. His shoes ripped apart, and his fancy garments became simple dirty pieces of cloth.

Now, the people at the road would ask him nothing, for they felt hypnotized by his movements, and these people had then become invisible to the Dancer’s eyes.

The Dancer then lost his way to the Village, but it would not matter because, in the end, there was only the dancer and the Hill; the Hill whispered sweet notes all along his path, and the Dancer caressed her soil with his magical performance, realizing that the Hill was the only one who deserved his body. And this is how it was meant to be.

The Dancer blended with the Hill, and he vanished in her forests, never to be seen again.

The confused Village suffered, for it never got to contemplate his dance. In consolation, the people at the village would say that he married the Hill: She would sing to him; he would dance for her, and they would make love forever, far from the sight of the other mortals.

Photo by Miguel Cano Gallo

OICES

Loves and Laments of Self-Isolation Mel Spiridigliozzi

It goes without saying that the past six months collectively make up the catalyst of a transformative experience, and I don’t mean this in that optimistic cliché-ed sense of “personal growth.”

We’ve been, quite literally, changed by circumstance, as our very livelihoods, worldviews, and even some values, were inevitably altered to accommodate tHeSe UnPrEceDeNtEd tImEs. That being said, the purpose of this piece isn’t to harp on this all-too-common generalization of people’s trauma that has been floating around the media as of late, nor do I intend to highlight my own experience as one that somehow requires sympathy.

Instead, I want to engage with some of the thoughts I had hanging around the depths of my mind during

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these months. Hopefully, this will serve as a cathartic process, and I encourage others to partake in this forum of self-expression.

One of the first things that struck me during the first couple of months of self-isolation was how, particularly on social media, romanticism seeped into the collective consciousness despite the chaos and the tragedy that continues to permeate the folds of our society.

Unfortunately, when I say “romanticism,” I’m not referring to those lovely serenades from my ever-socrass tinder matches, but I

promise that I’ll be getting into the topic of love later on. I will admit that the dating scene during quarantine is another topic worth exploring though, albeit in a separate article.

In other words, because I had more time to myself, I continued to feel pressured to produce something, anything, even if it were for my own personal and creative development.

I noticed that, because people were faced with their own loneliness, there seemed to be a new-found emphasis on the individual, its experience, and its creations; not only was there a consistent output of new artistic content for people to consume, including music

To this effect, it seems as though we’ve grown to romanticise the very idea of being busy, so we strove to fill in the gaps in our schedule to suit our narrative.

After all, what’s our excuse if we have all of this extra time right? I guess that’s capitalism for y’a; our sense of worth is intrinsically linked to how much we can produce and distribute.

and photography, but there was almost a certain expectation for people to partake in this movement as well.

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue 1

Aside from dealing with these existential reflections, as well as with my abysmal amount of schoolwork, I was faced with the changing implications of love and grief. I lost my grandmother in back in June to cancer-related complications, which arose due to the fact that she caught COVID-19. The

experience of sitting by her virtual deathbed had me thinking about how heavily reliant we are on touch to communicate affection, intimacy, and to provide comfort. I was yearning to do all of those things during those final months, as speaking into a seemingly vacuous screen always seemed to fall short. For these same reasons, the grieving process at the funeral also felt…insufficient, for a lack of a better term.

Therefore, like the rest of us, I find myself process-

ing traumas without the tools we were accustomed to using. So, forgive me for my lack of productivity and creativity. Instead, I opt to romanticize the idea of mumbling to myself in the confines of my bedroom like some Victorian madwoman, who waxes poetry about her reality from within the yellow wallpaper*. *This is an allusion to one of my favourite short stories

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman called "The Yellow Wallpaper." I highly recommend reading it!

"Candid" Self-Portrait by Mel Spiridigliozzi

Properly Wearing Your Mask Means Wearing It Over Your Nose Isabella Del Grosso

Montreal has now entered the red zone due to the growing number of daily Covid-19 cases.

Things may quickly escalate from here, which would mean another lockdown.

These next few weeks are crucial, which is why it’s important now more than ever to not only wear a mask but to wear one properly.

Lately, it is very com-

mon to see people wearing face coverings under their mouths, hanging from the ear, and, the most popular, wearing it under the nose.

Wearing a mask properly includes not only covering your mouth but covering your nose too.

NBC News covered a story on a study conducted

by Cell Journal, a peerreviewed scientific journal that publishes research pa-

pers about disciplines within the life of science.

This specific study, however, speaks of the effectiveness of wearing your mask over your nose. The study states that it’s only normal for people to feel uncomfortable covering their nose; it’s so much easier for the human body to breathe through the nose.

However, the research

also tells us that you are significantly more likely to become infected with a virus or to transmit one through the nasal passageway than through the throat. This

means that every time you exhale through your nose without wearing a proper face covering, you are creating a greater concentration of infectious aerosol, putting the people around you at risk.

Even the University of North Carolina conducted its own study and compared how the coronavirus infects

different cells in the respiratory tract. They concluded that the cells in the nose were the easiest to infect, followed by the throat, and then the lungs. They called

the nose “the first line of defense” in regard to catching the coronavirus, or even the common cold.

So, what do you do when, after all this, you still don’t want to wear your mask over your nose? It’s simple: don’t go out. If you must go out in an environment where social distancing is not possible, then you

should be wearing your mask properly, over your nose. If you aren’t, it’s as if you’re not wearing one at all. Glasses fog up? Put the mask closer to your eyes and place your glasses over your mask. On a phone call?

The person on the other end can still hear you. There is literally no justifiable excuse.

It is important, in these dangerous times, to be considerate of others who are at high risk and to just look out for your community in general. You may feel like this is a hopeless situation and that you cannot help in any way, but you actually can. Be a decent human being and wear your mask over your nose.

A Child's Canvas Maïa Fukuyama

All too often, a picture is painted within educational institutions. This picture is at first draped in white; every student enters with a blank slate. With every passing month, thick, colourful paint is slathered onto each student’s canvas, as each one develops into a more intricate work of art.

This work of art—an identity that is created during the most formative years— holds much importance to the meaning and image that it conveys to those around it.

One’s sense of self should be fortified by those who are teaching them. Children must learn to develop a good work ethic through encouragement and positive reinforcement.

Instead, these children are divided and assigned a role within their classroom.

Their level of intelligence is branded for them, and their difficulties are laid bare on the floor of the classroom to be made fun of.

Why is it that a teacher will view a naturally gifted student as a “good student”?

When displaying their obvious favouritism to their entire class, a clear idea is conveyed: teachers like students they don’t have to help. It’s easier to turn a blind eye to the children with difficulties in reading or in math, and it’s easier to look past the student acting out in class for some unspoken reason they’re too uncomfortable to share.

Although such dismissive attitudes are unadmirable on their own, some staff within schools go the extra mile by singling out certain students in the classroom in order to boost their own ego.

To the student struggling with public speaking they say, “Read this page with conviction.”

To the student struggling with attendance, they gossip to their other students: “That child is going nowhere. You’ll see one day when they’re older. They’ll be working a minimum wage job.”

To the student trying harder after getting a negative report, they explain: “Give up on your dreams, look somewhere more realistic. You’re incapable of

doing the work required to get there”.

And so, a cycle ensues.

The children who were always believed to be great become greater, as their canvas is filled with every colour, suggesting unlimited possibility and opportunity.

Meanwhile, children without such natural aptitude are publicly humiliated and shunned by their peers.

Their canvas becomes black and white.

A teacher’s job is not to command respect within a classroom by using public humiliation as a coercive tactic. A teacher’s job is to inspire, as well as to help their students develop passions and interests. Leading students towards a brighter future is one of the many rewards of teaching. There is no great accomplishment in encouraging students to do what they are already believed to be capable of.

government, as well as that coexisting and working together is the only way we can truly create change.

To restrict someone’s abilities before they are even aware of such things themselves is especially cruel, especially given today’s context. We hear from our elders that “we are the generation destined to create change,” and that we have “a lot of cleaning up to do”. We have had this responsibility shoved down our throats from the moment we could reason.

We grew up with “The war on terror” and “The war on drugs” force-fed to us on through the media.

As we grew into teenagers and young adults, we discovered the motivations behind these so-called wars to be the products of greed, xenophobia, and political propaganda. Our social media is now bombarded with infographics to fight “The war on ignorance”.

We have seen the world get hit by waves of natural disasters. We have met the heartbroken faces of families torn apart by climate change, and we watched the glamourous hills of California go up in flames.

As we grew into teenagers and young adults, we walked out of our classes to fight against the dooms-

day that the wealthy ignore, their white collars shielding their eyes from the state of the Earth.

And so, if I asked about if you knew how scared we were to fail, would you still nag us about our grades in front of a classroom full of students? If you knew the pain and helplessness drilled into our minds by the media, would you still try to label our worthiness? If you felt our fear, would you still scream that we will amount to nothing? If you truly believe us to be the only hope for tomorrow, then why are we forced to feel otherwise?

The times we live in are uncertain and frightening.

Every day, we are given a new task to face, each one being more complicated to complete than the last.

We have been raised to know that our lives can no longer be entrusted to the

Art by Maïa Fukuyama Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue1

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Dead to Me, A Feminist Masterpiece Sophie Dufresne

“What kind of feminist am I? I can’t picture a woman driving a car!” Normalize women casually calling themselves feminists in TV shows!

One of the issues with this line, spoken by Jen, one of the main characters, might be how this could encourage viewers to think “Oh she’s a feminist, no wonder she’s crazy”. (I wrote that in the voice of a certain antifeminist Sagittarius I know, or knew rather).

This article will actually disprove that claim.

For starters, no one in the

show attributes the “mental instability” of the women in Dead to Me to the fact that they are feminists. In fact, this was the only time

the word “feminist” was uttered; the good-humoured joke was taken with supportive laughter on the part of the other woman and of the man who were in the car with Jen when she spoke those words.

Because though only Jen says it explicitly, it is clearly implied that all the women in the show, or at least most, are feminists and this is one of the reasons why I love this show.

Dead to Me portrays the power dynamic between men and women in society in a way I have yet to see another show do.

It shows real-life issues such as the police commissioner being covertly racist and misogynist in a “oh but I was just joking”-type way.

These issues that are almost never spoken about in society, much less included in movies and TV shows.

Furthermore, every character gets more and more developed and multi-dimensional as the episodes go by.

At first glance, the women appear to be different versions of the “crazy” stereotype: Jen has uncontrollable anger issues, Judy is a stalker, Detective Parez is… well, she’s a female cop, Karen (of course her name is Karen) is the annoying neighbour, etc.

Then, Jen says something very important, and that sets the tone for the show: “Men call women nuts and crazy way too often just to

Immigration Nation

undermine us.”

It is at this point that the show really starts showing every woman’s true personality. None of them are crazy. In fact, they are driven crazy, as Jen later explains to her oldest son in a parenting moment to teach him about respect towards women.

It soon becomes clear that all of these women are actually extremely empowered, and, in a way, it almost seems as though the gender roles are actually reversed in this show, but not quite.

women as objects.

It just shows reality in a different light. It shows men at their most vulnerable and women at their most powerful, ending with - no spoilers - a huge F you to the patriarchy.

This show can be contrasted to Arrested Development, for example, which portrays every single woman as a unidimensional plot device - I’m not exaggerating. Name one woman in Arrested Development that doesn’t exist for the sole purpose of moving the plot forward!

This show, though its nature is extremely ridiculous, and though the women are sometimes caricatured in a way that almost discredits everything I just argued, remains a breath of fresh air compared to most shows on Netflix that literally paint

The sister literally shows up to visit her father in prison wearing a shirt with the word “SLUT” written on the front because she WANTS to get harassed. The receptionist exists just to keep the family’s secrets. The mother exists just to raise

to delve deeper into how the atrocities of the Holocaust could have occurred.

In brief, Milgram’s experiment explored how a person could be pushed to do actions that go against their conscience when told to do so by a figure of authority. This is applicable to the ordeal that ICE officers undergo, but replace the fake electroshock delivered to a victim with potential, yet very real, Geneva Convention violations.

those words constantly being uttered by President 45 and his administration. No one is illegal or alien on stolen land.

the children, as the main character actually tells her, need I go on?

Ultimately, Dead to Me portrays women in both their weakest and their strongest moments, making it a feminist masterpiece.

Yes, it does mock women at times, but in a very selfconscious way, as the opening quote of this article brilliantly proves.

However, most importantly, it portrays women in a very real way: as people with flaws and strengths, but whose flaws will always be pointed out first, as per the patriarchal agenda.

Angélique Chu

Netflix’s newest docuseries, Immigration Nation, gives a behind the scenes look into the secretive world of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency, most commonly known as the ICE. As Canadians, we are used to American-centric news and media.

You may be thinking, “What does this have to with me, a Canadian?” To which I respond, it may not affect you personally, but being silent and uninformed about this subject is complicity.

Despite being difficult to sit through, this docuseries is a necessary watch to anyone who even fathoms going to the United States.

Although this series was supposedly filmed over a period of three years and some things have changed, it is still very relevant.

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Throughout the series, ICE officers muse about the names their agency has been called, ranging from racist to Nazi. In response, they call those reciting these names ignorant, stating: “I am only following orders” or “I do as I’m told”.

These words hauntingly echo back to the Nuremberg Trials post Second World War when many former Nazi soldiers used similar or identical phrases. This shows how little we have moved on from the past, as the same excuses from over seventy years ago are still used to this day.

The use of the Nuremberg Defense in reaction to their horrific actions only demonstrates the lack of self-accountability. Despite being the ones that perform the mass arrests and deportations, these officers are trying to transfer any of their guilt onto their superi-

ors by shifting blame onto them, but saying they had a guilty conscience while following orders does not make what they did any less horrible. Additionally, unlike former SS officers at the Nuremberg trials, ICE officers are free to leave their jobs without fear of retaliation.

This show was filmed immediately after the inauguration of the 45th American President, whom I refuse to name. Anyone working for the ICE agency could have easily quit if they did not agree with the new administration’s policies, as America is not Nazi Germany. Of course, they would be leaving a well-paying job with good benefits, but they would not have to forfeit their morals.

In the now-famous 1961 Milgram Experiment, Stanley Milgram, a Jewish psychologist at Yale, wanted

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue 1

Furthermore, to refer to “illegal immigrants” as “illegal aliens” is beyond

stupid. Imagine how the Indigenous populations of America must feel to hear

Many say that the pilgrims were the first “illegal immigrants”; however, I must disagree with that statement, as they weren’t immigrants, but rather COLONIZERS. The same can be said about the French who established themselves in our totally non-problematic province of Quebec.

There are layers upon layers of hypocrisy on the part

of those who praise the pilgrims for coming to America to flee persecution and for wanting a better life, yet

continue to argue that the migrants, who are under the same conditions but are arrested at the border, should have known better than to come illegally. It seems that people lack awareness and are full of ignorance.

Both the United States and Canada were and are countries fuelled by the work of immigrants and to ignore so is to ignore the truth. We are both Immigration Nations who would be nothing without its immigrants. To turn a blind eye to them in this hour would be a great disservice, especially considering how communities populated by minorities, thus immigrants, are the ones most likely to be affected by COVID-19, as they are on the frontlines doing the work that no one else wants to!

To quote Hamilton the Musical, “Immigrants, we get the job done.”

TECHNOLOGY The Technological Era Camila Lewandowski

In the last couple of months, our world turned upside down. Not only pandemic speaking, but also as a society; social equality revendications are at their high all around the globe.

Another major event is also occurring right now, yet it looks like nobody is giving it enough attention. Before this drastic year, cyberspace was gaining territory in our lives. Today, in September 2020, it has taken a whole new turn.

Quarantine has brought a totally new dimension of cyberspace. Technology is everywhere: online classes; remote working; doing video conferences with loved ones, especially those at risk; online shopping; drinks with friends via Zoom, and online workout sessions.

My point is that a couple of months ago, we would have never thought of doing such things. Nowadays, human connections are almost inexistent. You do

not believe me? Well, it has been a month since classes have begun, and I have not once seen three-quarters of my classmates. How crazy is that?

Like it was said before, it destroys human interactions. People do not know how to initiate a conversation with a stranger, since most interactions happen via cellphones. I do not know about you, but it annoys me a lot when I speak to someone who is on their

phone.

Social media also made our lives very public. A

people complain about being quarantined in their mansions, creating big controversies.

stranger can know everything about us in an instant by just looking at our posts.

But obviously, cyberspace has its pros, much like everything else in this world.

It has also been proven that social media lowers people’s self-esteem. They see what others do and they feel like their life is a complete mess. Comparing what others do, their wealth, and their beauty is destroying people’s confidence.

Social media lets us communicate with people across the world, from Germany to Australia, for instance. It lets individuals interact with people they would have never met in the real world; it breaks off barriers.

This is not normal, and the worst part is that many of those overly optimistic posts are a scam, a distortion of reality. With today’s truth, many individuals are offended by seeing wealthy

In other words, it connects people. Something so important, especially today. Being quarantined is already hard; being isolated from the world is another thing. We can say that cyberspace has made life a

little bit more bearable.

The Internet is also beneficial in an academic aspect. Let us be honest, none of us could hand in an essay without first consulting the Internet, a now-vital resource.

Most importantly, it permits passing important messages on a larger scale.

A very contemporary example is the Black Lives Matter movement.

The video of the white policeman suffocating African American George Floyd went viral around the planet. It makes people aware of the racial discrimination that is still taking place in the United States of America. Social media is a precious tool when used properly.

To conclude, cyberspace has taken over and is leading us into a new era. Depending on how it is used, it can provide beneficial contributions to society, but it can also destroy it.

Don't Buy a MacBook Yet! Alex Chneerov

If you were thinking of buying a MacBook, maybe consider waiting. Apple has some big plans in store for the near future that will make your shiny new MacBook obsolete.

Since 2007 Apple has had an all intel-based lineup of macs . This means that the processor inside was manufactured by Intel, and, up until 5 years ago, it has been great for Apple.

Howver, in recent years, Intel’s processors have been very unsatisfying. The 2018 MacBook pro-15-inch core I9 was supposed to be a workhorse of a laptop, but Intel produced processors that got too hot for Apple’s 15-inch MacBook to cool them properly.

Therefore, the Macbooks were underpowered and very noisy; due to the fans spinning at high speeds to cool the processor.

That brings us to 2020.

This year, Apple announced that they will start the transition to their own processors, and, by 2022, all of their computers will have Apple processors nicknamed “Apple Silicon.”

This switch was due in part to Intel failing to satisfy Apple’s requirements, as well as to Apple wanting to control the whole Mac creation process; if Apple is able to make the CPU themselves, they can save money.

Whether or not they will pass those saving on to the consumer is to be determined. This change is quite important because the new

processors will be based on a different architecture.

I can speak in-depth about the better performance it will have and the smaller transistors present, but all you have to know is that the processor will work completely differently than Intel processors.

This means that the whole operating system, as well as every program, has to be translated from x86 (the language Intel’s processors use) to Apple Silicon’s “Arm-based language.”

Don’t be alarmed though, this does not mean that you will not be able to play games or download Microsoft word on the new Mac-

Books.

Apple has implemented a translator called Rosetta 2 to translate apps that are made for x86 processors so as to make them compatible with Apple Silicon, which will make all apps work properly with the new Processors.

This translator has proven to be very good at what it does, as it can translate

apps as you use them in real-time.

This brings me back to my main point: When Apple will release these new computers with Apple Silicon, developers will slowly stop making and updating apps for x86-based macs.

jority of people are going to be using Apple Siliconbased macs.

To summarize, if you want to buy a mac that will last a long time and that will be fully supported, just wait a few more months to get a mac with Apple Silicon.

As time goes on, there will be less and less support for macs using Intel processors because the vast ma-

Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue1

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FUN PAGE Pisces (Feb.22-Mar.21):

Yeah, yeah, you’re sensitive, but please stop crying over cheese.

Virgo (Aug.24-Sept.22):

The unsuspecting murderer in Murder Mystery tbh. No one ever suspects the virgo of doing anything bad, but trust me, they are never up to any good.

Aries (Mar.22-Apr.21):

Taurus (Apr.22-May21):

Aires are just weird tbh like y'all just wanna be ~different~ and although it sometimes works well, it sometimes just doesn't

Tauruses - Tauri? Taurus? - are so fake and can flip faster than I can figure out the plural form of your zodiac. One day, we’re chill, and the next, you’ve blocked us.

Libra (Sept.23-Oct.22):

Scorpio (Oct.23-Nov.21):

Cry to the moon and not to your friends for once.

Don’t look at me like that!

Gemini (May.22-Jun.21):

Cancer (Jun.22-Jul.23):

Gemini, Gemini, Gemini, nah, y’all get way too much hate tbh most geminis I’ve met are p chill. (And, by that, I mean ALL of your personalities are p chill)

Idk now how to tell you this, but you have crabs, literally crabs.

Sagittarius (Nov.22-Dec.21):

Capricorn (Dec.22-Jan.21):

Some say I was harsh on you in the past, but I think I was extremely accurate :)

Yo, I have short term memory loss, so help me out: when did I ever ask for your opinion?

Leo (Jul.24-Aug.23):

Queens. That is all. Leos of every gender are queens.

Aquarius (Jan.22-Feb.21):

First you were a VSCO girl, and now you’re ALT. Who are you really??

Horoscopes by: Sophie Dufresne and Angélique Chu

CROSSWORD

RIDDLES + GUESS THAT POKEMON Riddle me this: 1) What can you break, even if you never pick it up or touch it?

2) What goes up but never comes down?

3) What gets wet while drying?

4) I shave every day, but my beard stays the same.

What am I?

___________________ 1) A Promise 2) Your Age 3) A Towel 4) A Barber

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Wednesday, September 30th | Fall 2020 | Issue 1

SUDOKU