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Student Life

A day in the life of a car commuter at McGill: The perils of parking, tickets, and traffic

by Janine Xu on

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A walk through the Milton-Parc neighbourhood during the morning rush to class comes with countless stressors. When pushing past droves of slow walkers and dodging traffic on University Street, it can feel like the entire student body is travelling by foot, and they’re all in your way. However, according to a 2011 McGill Transportation Survey, 17 per cent of students travel to campus by car during the winter. And for them, commuting comes with a whole new set of challenges.

Melissa Paris St-Amour, U3 Environment, is no stranger to this reality. During the 2016-17 school year, she often drove her car between her home, downtown, and the MacDonald campus. St-Amour frequently faced many issues when driving to school, including navigating downtown traffic and hunting for street parking. Despite these difficulties, taking her car was often more convenient than traveling via public transit, with the closest metro station to her home being a 20-minute bus ride away.

“I used to take my car a lot, but [now] with all the construction, it’s almost impossible,” St-Amour said. “The traffic is insane. You never know which streets are blocked […and] it’s very slippery.”

Though convenient for students living in areas with limited public transit, driving in Montreal is no easy feat. Traffic conditions during rush hour can be hectic, and the roads can be downright dangerous in the wintertime. After moving to Laval, and closer to a metro station, St-Amour has stopped driving her car to school altogether.

“[Now], the nearest metro [station from my house] is Montmorency [in] Laval,” St-Amour said. “I prefer taking the metro, [as] it would take me about the same time [.…] It’s about 45 minutes [by metro], and 40 minutes with my car, but I have to [park and] pay for parking.”

Athar Qureshi, U3 Engineering, also commutes to school by car from time to time when he’s not biking or busing from his home in the Plateau. While he prefers biking to school, Qureshi drives if he needs to go somewhere else during the day. However, doing so comes with a large price.

“I live in the Mile End so, for me, it’s easy to commute to school,” Qureshi said. “I [mostly] bike because it’s faster than taking the bus […] I [also] pay $125 a month for two [parking] spots [in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood].”

Parking is another issue McGill students must take into consideration when deciding to drive to school. Getting a parking permit for one of McGill’s parking lots by McIntyre, Bronfman, Burnside, Education, and Sherbrooke 680 buildings are competitive for both students and staff. Permits are only issued to those who satisfy certain criteria, including those who live in an area where public transit is limited, are pregnant, or require parking due to extenuating circumstances. And, though Qureshi’s monthly fee seems steep, McGill parking lots are even higher. For students, permits add up to $571 per semester, or $200 per month.

In order to bypass these costs, commuters like Qureshi and St-Amour have to park off campus instead, meaning they need to get downtown earlier than the average student.

“[Students] who normally drive to school park in the ghetto,” Qureshi said. “[Spots start filling up] from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., depending on where your classes are. If you’re parking in the ghetto, there’s free parking on the edge of every street.”

Students unwilling to compete with others for an off-campus parking spot or pay for expensive parking passes may consider alternative means.

“Lots of students I know that occasionally drive in will park their cars illegally in McGill parking lots,” Qureshi said. “McGill parking will give them citations but no actual fine. But every once in awhile the city cops come [and give] you a ticket. A lot of people will play this gamble. I myself have done that in the past and eventually I got a ticket, so I stopped.”

From hefty fines to long traffic lines, driving to school is a burdensome process that leaves many students wondering what their other travel options are.

“I don’t think commuting [by car] is ideal,” Qureshi said. “It can [take a lot of time] and parking can be competitive [….] But I don’t [really] have a choice.”

Basketball, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

McGill basketball season review

by Ender McDuff on

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The Martlet and Redmen basketball teams ended regular season play on Feb. 24, as they each took down the Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins. The women pulled out a close 59-51 victory, while the men clipped the Citadins 74-57 in back-to-back games. The Martlets enter the playoffs as defending National Champions, but with an 11-5 conference record, they’re ranked only sixth in the nation this season. The men hold a commanding 14-2 conference record and RSEQ regular season pennant, which likewise places them in sixth nationally.

Martlet Basketball

(Selwynne Hawkins / The McGill Tribune)

The Martlets began the 2017-18 regular season with their sights set on defending their national title, but a tough loss in a championship rematch against Laval in the season opener foreshadowed the trials facing the Martlets en route to their goal. For Head Coach Ryan Thorne’s team, replicating last season’s success was all about finding balance and leaning on rookie talents like Charlotte Clayton, Maggy Chabot, and Kamsi Ogbudibe.

“Our young players have really come in and contributed,” Thorne said. “You might not see it show up on a stats sheet, but it’s that breather they give to the veterans [….Contributing] here and there […] really helps us out.”

The regular season ended with a few difficult results, however, as the Martlets dropped three of their final five games—including two tough away losses to first-place Laval. Thorne remains confident in his team and trusts their ability to move past the shortcomings of the regular season.

“We’ve just got to be focused on playing our game and not ghosts of [this season] and just be confident in what we do,” Thorne said.

The Martlets will take on the Bishop’s Gaiters in the RSEQ semi-finals on Feb. 28. McGill has taken their last two matchups against Bishop’s, and another win in the semifinal round will earn them a spot in the provincial final on March 3.

 

Redmen Basketball

The Redmen had a consistent, exceptionally successful season. With a deep rotation, the Redmen thrived by maintaining their high-tempo style of play on both ends of the court.

“We have the deepest bench in the league,” Head Coach David Deaveiro wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “There is no drop off when

(Selwynne Hawkins / The McGill Tribune)

we go to the bench, and expectations remain the same whoever is on the floor.”

 

The Redmen finished the season on a seven-game winning streak, which was in large part due to the transcendent play of fourth-year point-guard Alex Paquin.

“[Learning to utilize Paquin] might have been the most influential moment for us this year,” DeAveiro wrote. “[Paquin] has added a dimension on offence that we have never had.”

More important than any individual contribution, however, was the team’s collective work throughout the season. The Redmen’s consistency helped them secure a 14-2 record, placing them six points ahead of second-place rivals, the Concordia Stingers.

“[The team’s] commitment to change, the daily grind mentally, and their unselfishness […] is the recipe for our success,” DeAveiro wrote.

For DeAveiro’s squad, the first goal was to capture the regular season title. Ranked sixth in the nation, they’ve now shifted their sights toward winning the RSEQ championship banner. As with the Martlets, this task begins Feb. 28 against Bishop’s, a team the Redmen beat in three of their four contests this season. If they’re successful, they will tip-off against the winner of the Laval-UQAM semifinal on March 3.

Student Life

How to avoid being the most hated person at the gym

by Gabriela McGuinty on

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Making the trek to the McGill gym is a pain: From finding the time and motivation to get out the door to walking up the vicious hill in icy weather, just getting there can feel like the hardest part. But, once there, dodging the strange cast of characters at the fitness centre presents its own unique challenge. You know who I’m talking about—the girl hogging the Stairmaster for over 30 minutes when there is clearly a line for the machine, or the guy who leaves behind a pool of his own sweat at a rowing machine and “forgets” to wipe it away. To make things easier for gym aficionados and novices alike, The McGill Tribune has compiled a list of ways to avoid running into or becoming one of these people.

1- Bring a towel

Although the purpose of this step seems self-explanatory, it is overlooked and ignored by most gym-goers. Not only is bringing a towel into the fitness area in fact compulsory, but having one nearby benefits yourself and others. For starters, towels are essential for cleaning your face and body from sweat after a particularly intense workout, and, when dampened with cold water, can help you cool down. What’s more, the people around you will appreciate not being assaulted by your sweat droplets.  

 

2- Clean the exercise machines and gym mats after use

You do not have to be exceedingly intuitive to figure out where I am going with this. Exercising leads to sweating, and sweating leads to germs. To prevent germs from spreading through equipment, please wipe down every mat and machine that you’ve used once your workout is done. There are many towels and bottles of antibacterial soap located around the fitness centre for this very purpose, so if you skip this step, you are honestly just being rude.

 

3- Do not be a hogger

During busy hours at the gym, it is inevitable that popular machines will draw a queue. To avoid frustrating other gym-goers, be conscious of how much time you spend on a machine that is regularly occupied, especially when you see people lurking nearby waiting to use it after you. The same applies to mats and floor space when stretching. Be aware of how much space you take up and try not to hog more than one yoga mat at a time—you can always do your star poses or your one-man kickboxing routine at home—and avoid scattering your personal belongings around the gym floor.

 

4- Be conscious of others

Nobody likes reverberating floors. They jolt people out of focus, and this can be hard to regain. To quell murderous thoughts from other gymers practicing relaxed stretches or concentrating on their reps, take note of the way you discard your weights. Please refrain from dropping heavy weights noisily on the ground; rather, place them gently on the floor once you’re done with them. Don’t worry, others will still know you’re a strong gym-bro even if you don’t chuck your weights onto the floor after each set. And for the love of the gym, please put the weights back on the rack where you found them.

Commentary, Opinion

Ontario government: Local research models matter, too

by Grace Gunning on

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Ontario universities are currently working with the provincial government to create and fulfill Strategic Mandate Agreements, the goals of which are to “[build] on current strengths and to help drive system-wide objectives and government priorities.” Part of this process is evaluating a university’s research using bibliometrics—the quantitative analysis of journal articles. Bibliometric data collection is made possible by sophisticated computational algorithms. The specific metrics used in this case are based on the number of papers published and number of citations.

This is an alarming change: Although such methods of evaluation are not unusual, the Strategic Mandate Agreements officialize them and, during the project’s third phase, will tie them to funding. It is dangerous to base research funding on a metric that prioritizes volume of publishing over all else. In fact, such a decision is exclusionary of alternative research models, such as local, community-based, and Indigenous research, which are crucial for creating a multiplicity of academic narratives and sustaining engagement between local contexts and institutions.

Academic research does not exist in a bubble. The Strategic Mandate Agreements leave no room for local, community-based research, which tends to have other goals besides academic publishing and may be conducted in languages other than English. One-size-fits-all research metrics have no place in Canada, where the dominant narratives of academic research sit uneasily beside local models. Publishing is only one end goal, albeit the most visible and glamorous. Researchers should be encouraged to look outside the limited scope of the traditional academic world, and perform research that benefits local communities. In turn, government funds should be allotted to alternative forms of research with priorities other than publishing, for example, providing research services to institutions such as health clinics and information centres in disenfranchised communities.

Publishing is only one end goal, albeit the most visible and glamorous. Researchers should be encouraged to look outside the limited scope of the traditional academic world, and perform research that benefits local communities.

Although the agreements are Ontario-exclusive, if their research evaluation metrics become a Canadian norm, the results might be unfortunate for researchers in Quebec, too—especially those engaging in community-based research. The community-based model is action-driven, emphasizing communication in local contexts. In contrast, publishing-focused bibliometrics, like those of the agreements, tend to prioritize “high impact” English-language journals at the cost of local research. This leaves little space for bilingual fields, such as Quebec studies, or even community-based research conducted with immigrant communities. Local, community-based programs often face unique barriers at research universities—the tenuous existence of the Quebec Studies program at McGill is but one example. To normalize metrics that neglect these programs is to create an institutional bias against local research, which is necessary to strengthen the relationship between the academic institution and the surrounding community.

Indigenous research is another model that, while vital in Canada, might be further marginalized by publishing-based metrics. The Indigenous model often conducts research based on conversation, story, and care. This is not analogous with the Western scientific method, but it is an equally vital alternative narrative. To encode an academic system that devalues Indigenous research methods shuts Indigenous paradigms of learning, data, and history out of universities.

Ontario’s Strategic Mandate Agreements represent a choice to prioritize traditional research and academic publishing, despite the fact that it is now easier than ever to evaluate alternative research. Canadian institutions would do better to create methods for qualifying alternative forms of research, and legitimize a multiplicity of academic narratives. Only then can Canadian academia move toward a paradigm of inclusion and diversity rather than homogeneity.

Laughing Matters, Off the Board, Opinion

Hey! You should come see my band tonight

by Dylan Adamson on

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You’re at Café Santropol on a Sunday afternoon. Visibly focused on your work, headphones in, you become aware of a turtlenecked, tiny-hatted, vaguely stinky entity behind you. He won’t tap your shoulder, but as seconds stretch into minutes, you begin to turn your head, not quite toying with the idea of removing a headphone—

Hey! It was really nice seeing you at the show the other night. I wasn’t actually planning on going, but a guy I know works for the promoters and got me on the guestlist. It was pretty tight, we did shots with the guitar player before his set. He was making out with this drunk fan, which was kinda weird, but he was actually such a straight up funny dude with us. They’re rolling out of town today, but he said if anything gets delayed, he’d definitely consider pulling through tonight.

Wait, damn, did I not invite you? My bad! We’re doing a set tonight. You should come! It’s me and two of the guys. I do synths, guitar, and sometimes sing. We’ve got kind of a garage-y sound, but there’s a lot of psych and electronic influences that really come through. Do you play any instruments?

Chill. Yeah I guess our biggest influences have gotta be Neutral Milk Hotel (cliché, I know), The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and The Soft Boys. A lot of people just know “Underwater Moonlight” by them, if they’ve heard of them at all, which is too bad. You’ll definitely be able to pick out The Soft Boys in our set. Sorry, totally don’t mean to be mansplaining our influences. Some of our songs are pretty out there, I just like to give context. I’m not one of those guys, though, don’t worry. It’s honestly whack how the patriarchy lets some men systematically exploit women’s emotional labour. Anyway, do you like music?

Tight. Yeah, Lorde is OK but it’s mostly Jack Antonoff doing the work, so just like, credit where credit is due, you know? I don’t really mess with his Bleachers stuff but some of his work with St. Vincent is actually super innovative. Have you heard St. Vincent?

Wait, sorry to interrupt, but could I bum one of those? I’ve been trying to quit for forever but I always get nervous the day of a show. I have a lot of anxiety that people don’t really see.

Anyways, yeah, St. Vincent really inspired me to play guitar. A lot of people don’t think girls can play guitar, but she’s 10 times the guitarist Jack White is. We’re playing an experimental cover of one of her songs tonight. You’ve gotta come, you’d love it. I think The White Stripes are so overrated. My dad loves them. He gave me a lot of shit growing up. I never really got into the sports that my brothers were into. I was too busy digging through record crates to ever really get involved in all that toxic masculine crap. Kids at school used to beat me up and call me gay. No, no I’m not gay! Haha, just because of the music and stuff. You’re not, right?

I just don’t really do monogamy, you know? It’s so grounded in heteronormative patriarchy, it gives me anxiety. Do you have any ex-boyfriends?

Diversity is so important. POCs are everything. I think it was Bukowski who said, “It is not our differences who define us,” and that’s a philosophy that underlies a lot of what my band’s all about. Are you and your dad close?

Yeah I feel that. Relationships are tough. Self-care is everything. My ex-girlfriend and I just broke things off pretty recently. Do you ever model, by the way? I just bought a new roll of 35mm, I’d love to shoot you sometime. I hope somebody brings beers tonight. A lot of the songs we’ll be playing are actually about my ex.

Have you seen Her? Spike Jonze is an auteur. I drink so much sometimes that there are whole weeks I don’t remember. Could I bum another one of those? I process a lot of my anxiety through songwriting. Infinite Jest changed me, but I actually think Pynchon is way more relevant for right now. Sometimes I cry so hard it feels like I’m going to run out of tears. Death Grips are so overrated, my ex never got that. I just don’t really do monogamy, you know? It’s so grounded in heteronormative patriarchy, it gives me anxiety. Do you have any ex-boyfriends?

Wait, sorry, I’ve gotta run to soundcheck. The show’s way up at my place near Jarry, you can catch the 80. It was so good seeing you again! What’s your number? I’ll send you the address. I might be able to get you guestlist, but it’s $5/PWYC anyways, so no big deal. Bring your friends. Could I possibly bum one more of those, for the road? I’ll get you back at the show.

Sports

Highlights from the 2018 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

by Stephen Gill on

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In the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center with only four hours of sleep to my name, I wasn’t optimistic about what I saw on the morning of Feb. 23. The 2018 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (SSAC) wouldn’t begin for another 30 minutes, but M.B.A. candidates, predominantly from institutions like MIT and Northwestern University, and leading sports executives alike wasted no time settling in. In a half-full walkway, I passed by countless sports technology booths, plenty of old business partners reconnecting, and the conference’s first job interview—of many.

I gathered my bearings and proceeded to the third floor to secure priority seating for the grand opening in the Bill James room, where seated attendees continued to chat about job openings and summer internships. The abundance of suits and business card exchanges made me anxious—I came for a sports conference, not a job fair. However, once the event officially commenced with a hilarious new installment of Bleacher Report’s “Game of Zones,” I rejoiced in learning the event was, indeed, for me.

What followed was a choose-your-own-adventure-style journey through a sports nerd’s wonderland. At any given time, a conference-goer could choose between attending one of a handful of panels, walking through the “trade show,” browsing research paper competition finalists, or rubbing shoulders with prominent sports executives, media personalities, and athletes.

Panels catering to both sports and business managers filled the conference’s two-day schedule. Topics ranged from social media to player advocacy to eSports analytics, and A-listers from the sporting world filled the slate for each talk. Even Barack Obama was announced to speak at the conference—but that’s all that media and attendees like myself are allowed to say about the mysterious post-lunch panel on that Friday.

The trade show featured booths from a wide range of organizations. FiveThirtyEight and ESPN Stats and Info brought representatives to speak about their platforms and services. Outside upstarts like edjSports and LBi Dynasty sent tablers, but I didn’t get a chance to ask how they came up with their names. There was even a PS4 set up with a virtual reality Home Run Derby game demo—in case conference-goers were looking to build up confidence for an upcoming interview by mashing some homers.

Outside the Bill James room, finalists in the SSAC research paper competition assembled abbreviated presentations on poster boards. If you squinted, the gallery looked like a high school science fair held in a grand ballroom with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown Boston. But, despite the amusing spectacle, I can assure you that trying to understand how Voronoi tessellations are used to create weighted heat maps in soccer matches is a great way to keep your intellectual ego in check.

Throughout the event, you couldn’t help but notice SSAC’s sheer star-power. The corridor was consistently littered with industry giants mingling with one another after panel appearances, flanked by colleagues who still attend the conference for mere enjoyment. That Friday, I got off an escalator behind ESPN’s Mina Kimes to walk past fellow ESPN writer Kevin Arnovitz and former Philadelphia 76ers GM Sam Hinkie. The next day, I watched an amalgamation of NBA icons in Arnovitz, Shane Battier, and Jalen Rose cross the same 10-foot area within 15 seconds while taking my lunch break.

All things considered, the conference’s best feature was this sudden immersion into a world of sports figures, big and small. I got to speak with the smartest writers in sports—some of whom I’ve followed for years—while strolling between events. Then I watched normally-anonymous executives reveal that they are far more than some collective, robotic decision machine. I welcomed the revelation that bosses like SSAC co-founder Jessica Gelman, Boston Celtics Assistant GM Mike Zarren, and Houston Rockets Executive Vice President Gersson Rosas had genuinely charming personalities—these are some people I can get behind.

At the end of the day, spectator sports boil down to fandom—whether for teams, individual athletes, or otherwise. That weekend, I stumbled into discovering my fandom for Gelman, Zarren, Rosas, and many more. Developing a loyalty to sports figures who wear jeans, sweats, or suits at game-time instead of a uniform probably takes sports nerd-dom to its logical end—but is perfectly fitting for an event that Ringer CEO Bill Simmons once dubbed “Dorkapalooza.”

Basketball, Sports

NBA midseason report

by Gabe Nisker on

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With a successful All-Star game in the rearview mirror, it’s time to take a look at what’s happened in the 2017-18 NBA season thus far.

 

Eastern Conference

Head Coach Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics adjusted quickly to Gordon Hayward’s season-ending injury and remain in the thick of the conversation in the Eastern Conference. With the new-look Cavaliers squad holding the third seed and working to figure things out on the fly, the Toronto Raptors and Celtics—currently jostling for the conference’s first seed—are in great position to make a run at the NBA finals, making the Eastern Conference more competitive than it’s been in quite a while.

 

Western Conference

One bright spot to date is in Minneapolis. Tom Thibodeau is prepared to work his Timberwolves starters hard for ideal playoff positioning—but they’ll have to do it without the injured Jimmy Butler, who tore his meniscus in his first game after the break. Beyond the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors, the order of teams holding seeds three through eight change daily, since they’re separated by only a couple of games.

 

Most Valuable Player: James Harden, Rockets

Near-unstoppable when Harden, Chris Paul, and Clint Capela are on the court, the Houston Rockets sit atop the Western Conference after the All-Star break, albeit barely ahead of—you guessed it—the Warriors. All three players have been key to the Rockets’ success, but none more so than Harden, who’s looking to add the MVP trophy to his mantle after his two previous runner-up finishes in the voting. He’s averaging 31.5 points per game, with a sparkling 60-point triple double—one of the best games in NBA history by some metrics—to highlight the first half of the season.

 

Most Improved Player: Victor Oladipo, Pacers

Paul George was “dumped” for Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis last offseason in a trade that the Oklahoma City police investigated as a robbery. The smooth-singing Oladipo is back in front of his college fans and proving the doubters wrong. Oladipo earned his first All-Star berth this season, averaging 24.4 points per game—with an average of 4.8 on the fast break, which is the second best mark in the NBA. With his help, the Pacers have a better-than-expected 34-25 record, good for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

 

Rookie of the Year: Ben Simmons, 76ers

Take your pick—Ben Simmons or Donovan Mitchell. Both are having incredible rookie seasons. Simmons is a do-everything machine for the playoff hopeful process-trusters in Philadelphia, while Mitchell is a budding star, helping keep the Jazz in the playoff hunt, even after widespread changes. However, Simmons takes the edge so far: He’s a gifted all-round talent who puts up a more efficient game than Mitchell. Simmons is averaging 16.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game, and his defensive contributions outweigh those of his Utah rival.

 

Coach of the Year: Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors

The first-place Raptors are third in the NBA in point differential, behind only the Rockets and Warriors. The team’s depth of young talent has been a key factor in its success this season. The “bench mob,” as forward CJ Miles has nicknamed it, currently ranks as one of the league’s best five-man units. Even as questions of playoff performance float back to the surface, the new-look, ball-moving, three-point-shooting offence commands your attention. The Raptors are poised to make waves, and Casey deserves credit for his role in making it happen.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are from NBA.com

McGill, News

Vigil for Tina Fontaine calls for individual and institutional change

by Kendall McGowan on

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Two weeks after Gerald Stanley’s acquittal for the murder of 22-year-old Cree man Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan, a Manitoba courthouse acquitted Raymond Cormier of the murder of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine, member of the Sagkeeng First Nation. Montrealers gathered to mourn Fontaine, Boushie, and other Indigenous people denied justice in Canadian courts at a vigil in Cabot Square on Feb. 24.

Ellen Gabriel, a Kanehsatà:ke activist and the first speaker at the event, emphasized Canada’s culpability in allowing crimes against Indigenous victims to go unpunished.

“The [United Nations] treaty bodies have told Canada that they must implement a process and measures that provide safety and security [for] Indigenous women and girls,” Gabriel said. “And it says that if any private individual inflicts harm upon Indigenous women and girls, then the state is responsible to provide the measures needed to bring the guilty to justice. And it has failed once again.”

 

The event, which was organized in part by the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM), ended up drawing extensive press coverage and a crowd of about 400 people, according to the CBC. Both NWSM Executive Director Nakuset and Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Indigenous Affairs Commissioner Carlee Kawinehta articulated the need for settlers to educate themselves about Indigenous peoples’ history and lived experiences, both in school and independently.

“I have children, and you wouldn’t believe [what] they’re taught [in school],” Nakuset said. “As someone who runs an organization […] I advocate all the time on behalf of the residents that come in, but I go home and then I have to advocate on behalf of my children. So it never ends when you’re Indigenous, you just have to keep educating and keep advocating all the time.”

Kawinehta added that non-Indigenous McGill students can begin by following the news and reading about initiatives for missing and murdered indigenous women. According to former Minister for the Status of Women and current Minister of Employment Patty Hajdu, Canadian Indigenous women like Fontaine are at disproportionate risk of experiencing violence, and as many as 4,000 have gone missing or been murdered since 1980.

“It’s not a one-time thing, this isn’t a unique case, and [McGill students] should know the names,” Kawinehta said. “I think we’re doing things in the university context, and it’s not working [….] It has to be on a personal level. McGill students, on a personal level, need to learn about these things, reach out to those resources that we have.”

Gabriel also named numerous tools for Canadians to educate themselves, such as the Stolen Sisters report and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. She and other speakers delivered resounding calls for change.

“We didn’t riot when the verdict came down for Colten Boushie, and we’re not rioting today, because we are always calling for peace,” Gabriel said. “This is why I’m asking you, as citizens of your country, let’s put politics aside [….] Let’s look at the humanity of this. And let’s bring some changes, some fundamental changes, to respect the human rights of Indigenous children.”

In his speech, Kanehsatà:ke activist and filmmaker Clifton Ariwakehte Nicholas praised the vigil’s large turnout, but stressed that attendance alone would not resolve the issues Canada’s Indigenous communities face.

“I’m happy that there are moral people that still exist in this country, that you’re here today,” Nicholas said. “I’m here because I want to incite you to action. I want you to be loud, to be consistent with your loud voices. Talk about justice. I am completely sickened by what I’ve been witnessing. Just a week ago, I was here talking about Colten Boushie, and [now] I’m here again.”

McGill, News

Duff medical building faces water leaks, damaged lab equipment despite ongoing repairs

by Jacqueline Yao on

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In January 2018, a demolition project to replace the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the Lyman Duff Medical Building sixth floor mechanical room caused a water leak in the north-east staircase. The leak has posed an inconvenience for staff in the building, which has a history of construction problems, and is home to many laboratories for a number of departments.

Partly funded by the Government of Canada’s Strategic Investment Fund, Duff’s refurbishing is one of several McGill construction projects aimed at improving outdated facilities. According to Jasmin Chahal, a Ph.D. candidate in Microbiology and Immunology (MIMM) and Lyman-Duff representative, new ventilation systems were necessary to avoid potentially dangerous consequences after a ventilation pipe installation in December 2017 interfered with the functioning of fume hoods in Duff.

“We have toxic chemicals in the fume hoods and then sometimes, due to ventilation, the fume hoods just stop working,” Chahal said. “We realized [the malfunction] when we started smelling the chemicals. What we did at the time [of the incident] was [that] we’d do our work and then just shut [the fume hood].”

One month later, in January 2018, water began leaking into Duff auditorium B23 due to the building’s roof deterioration and corroding corrosion. In an email to The McGill Tribune, Facilities Management and Ancillary Services Communications Manager Julie Fortier confirmed that the faulty pipes have since been replaced and that more permanent solutions are being considered for the neglected roof.

“The replacement of the roof at the Lyman Duff Building is on our priority list,” Fortier wrote. “The University has about 1.3 billion dollars worth of deferred maintenance work, so it is difficult to say at this stage when we will be able to proceed with that project.”

According to Chahal, the building has faced infrastructural problems for several years. Over one year ago, a hot water pipe burst overnight, flooding Duff room 600 and damaging an MacBook computer, four desk chairs, and lab notebooks.

“Our lab was big and everything got damaged,” Chahal said. “[The water] came from a very dirty pipe so it was dusty and dirty. We work with RNA, and RNA is very unstable […], so we couldn’t work with RNA at all for a week at least.”

Construction projects in Duff and other buildings on campus cause countless logistical difficulties for students, beyond the risks that faulty handiwork pose. For example, laboratory construction in the Stewart Biology Building that began in May 2017 has led many first-year biology labs to be relocated to the Duff Building.

The Duff Building HVAC renovations are expected to finish in December 2018. However, Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Student Association (MIGSA) President Patrick Lypaczewski is skeptical of the completion date, considering the university’s history of delaying construction timelines.

“[The changing deadlines is a topic] that keeps coming up during staff meetings,” Lypaczewski said. “It isn’t just that the admin isn’t telling the students enough. It’s also that the admin and the profs don’t know enough. McGill can’t control what the [construction] companies do but they can give clear instructions as to communications.”

Out on the Town, Student Life

Le Doggy Café fills the dog-shaped holes in students’ hearts

by Eloise Haliburton on

More in Out on the Town:

After a long week at school, nothing compares to spending some quality time with puppies and their unconditional love. Although owning pets is impossible for most students living away from home, Le Doggy Café, located on St-Denis Street, provides a temporary fix. Not only does this café have enough space to work and eat at the same time, it is also filled with dogs bouncing from person to person to receive pats.

 

While food and animals don’t often overlap, the environment at Le Doggy Café doesn’t feel unsanitary or uninviting. The staff keep the space clean by abiding to a few rules that other cafés do not.

“We have a ‘dog café’ licence,” Le Doggy Café owner Gabrielle Aubin said. “There are a few rules that we have to follow that are added on to the regular [restaurant health code]. Our kitchen has to be closed, we can’t have an open pass for the food.’”

On a regular day, the café welcomes customers to bring their dogs to meet others. Those who don’t own a pet can still drop by to get their fill of doggy kisses, and most owners are happy to introduce their pets to dog-lovers. Many come bearing funny anecdotes about their pets current and past, uniting strangers over a shared love of dogs.

For Ana Paula Sánchez, U1 Arts, bringing her dog to the café was an unforgettable experience.

“I went on a Friday morning so it was pretty quiet,” Sánchez said. “But an elderly woman came with her granddaughter in the hopes to see some dogs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything cuter than them playing with my shih tzu, Pepper, and pug, Raisin. It’s just really nice in general to bring in my dogs into a café, that way I can spend more time with them but also see them interact with other adorable dogs.”

Once a week, Le Doggy Café hosts Les Samedi Puppy, or Puppy Saturdays, which it advertises as an opportunity for puppy owners and their puppies to meet. The café also invites people to come with full-grown dogs, and is just as welcoming to those who come without a dog at all. According to Aubin, the weekly event began as a way to appease customers’ requests to see more puppies.

“Last year we did a puppy casting and it was the most popular [event] we ever had,” Aubin said. “We kept having people asking us if there were days dedicated to puppies, so we put two and two together and created Les Samedi Puppy.”

For Jade Perraud, U2 Arts, Le Doggy Café’s Les Samedi Puppy is a great way to de-stress in the midst of a busy semester.

“It’s definitely one of my favourite places in town,” Perraud said. “Going there is like therapy and there’s always the cutest variety of dogs hanging out.”

So if you’re feeling stressed this semester and need a dog to pet, consider making a trip over to Le Doggy Café. Enjoy some quality time with the most café-cultured dogs of Montreal.

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