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Former McGill student sentenced to 12 months house arrest for 2015 off-campus assault
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On Tuesday, Dec. 19, Conrad Gaysford, a former McGill student, was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest for assault causing bodily harm to Kathryn Leci, a current McGill Master of Engineering candidate. The Honourable Judge Louise Baribeau of Montreal Municipal Court presided over the case.
The conditional sentence requires that Gaysford keep the peace, appear before the court when required, and surrender his passport, among other provisions. For the first six months of the sentence he is not permitted to leave his residence in Canada at any time of the day, except for documented employment or study purposes. For the following six months, Gaysford is required to remain at his residence from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.. Hon. Baribeau also granted Gaysford an exemption to his house arrest for the dates of Dec. 24, 25, and 31, 2017 and Jan. 1, 2018. Gaysford will not serve any prison time for the assault.
The assault occurred outside an off-campus house party in Montreal’s Plateau neighborhood on Sept. 18, 2015, while Gaysford and Leci were both McGill undergraduate students. Following a verbal confrontation, Gaysford punched Leci on her lower left jaw, knocking her unconscious and causing her to fall and strike her head on the pavement. Three days after the incident, Leci was diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury by physicians at the Montreal General Hospital. In January 2016, she dropped out of McGill to attend an outpatient rehabilitation centre in London, Ontario, on the recommendation of a doctor who specializes in the treatment of brain injuries.
The Dec. 19 sentencing concludes a legal process that has spanned over two years, with multiple delays. Gaysford was originally arrested by the police in November 2015, and entered an initial plea of not guilty to the same charges in March 2016. Two months later, Gaysford, a British citizen, failed to appear at a scheduled court hearing because he was out of the country, postponing the hearing to September 2016. In November 2016, he admitted guilt and agreed to the facts of the case before a municipal court, after which Hon. Baribeau agreed to postpone the sentencing process until May 2017 to allow Gaysford to graduate with a B.Sc. in Physics. Leci returned to McGill in the Fall 2017 semester to complete her B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering, overlapping with Gaysford for the final year of their degrees.
Sentencing hearings took place over the next eight months until Dec. 19, with members of both parties becoming visibly emotional throughout the hearing process. For the prosecution, Dr. Keith Sequeira, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist who has treated Leci since January 2016, spoke to the injuries she sustained as a result of the assault.
“Ms. Leci continues to have refractory symptoms and impairments that relate to this assault and concussion,” a medical report that Sequeira submitted as evidence to the court read. “Her headaches are present constantly. She also struggles with vision and auditory sensitivity, fatigue and sleep dysfunction much of the time.”
Leci also attested to her injuries in court.
“Of course I still struggle with memory issues,” Leci said through tears during a sentencing hearing in October 2017 when she was questioned by Gaysford’s lawyer, Richard Shadley. “With frequent headaches, with tension issues. It's all constant.”
Sequeira also gave his professional opinion that the chances of Leci making a full recovery are slim.
“Her problems have persisted for almost two years and to a meaningful extent, will likely remain,” Sequeira’s medical report read. “I anticipate that Ms. Leci will likely have symptoms, impairments and limitations in the future that are reasonably consistent with her current presentation [….] I do not expect these to substantially improve in the future.”
The defence also brought several witnesses to the stand, including Gaysford’s father, professors, and friends. They each testified to Gaysford’s character, stating that he was studious, involved in several extra-curricular activities, and had never been involved in a violent encounter prior to the assault on Leci. Gaysford himself also spoke to the psychological trauma he experienced after committing the assault, and the rehabilitative steps—such as counselling and anger management therapy—that he has taken since the incident.
In explaining her judgement to the court, Hon. Baribeau explained that she weighed several factors, including the nature of physical and psychological damages done to Leci, the impact on her studies, the societal impetus to condemn violent acts, the repercussions Gaysford has faced since the incident on social media and in the news, his age, and his ability to contribute to society.
The Dec. 19 sentencing concludes the criminal chapter of the case. In May 2017, Leci filed a civil lawsuit against Gaysford, which is currently still in its preliminary stages.
McGill Board of Governors meeting adjourns early following Divest McGill protest
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The Dec. 12 McGill Board of Governors (BoG) meeting was forced to adjourn early after members of Divest McGill staged a protest. The group, which lobbies for McGill to divest its endowment funds from fossil fuel companies, demanded that the McGill community be consulted about proposed changes to the Committee to Advise on Social Responsibility (CAMSR) Terms of Reference. Prior to the interruption, the BoG passed the Policy Concerning Smoking at McGill University and received updates on the plan to integrate Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) into McGill’s downtown campus. The Board of Governors is the highest decision-making body of the University, with final authority over all academic and financial affairs.
CAMSR Terms of Reference
The BoG considered approving a report by the Nominating, Governance, and Ethics Committee recommending appointments to BoG Committees, non-Board bodies, and Health Care bodies. The report also proposed an amendment to CAMSR’s terms of reference to add a clause mandating it to advise the university against using its resources to advance social or political causes.
Darin Barney, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Representative of the Academic Staff to the BoG, proposed a motion to table the discussion of the report. He expressed concern that the BoG was not properly informed about the amendment prior to the meeting.
“CAMSR Terms of Reference are of interest to many people and several major changes to the mandate of the Committee were not prominently signalled,” Barney said. “The revisions were only received recently by the [BoG].”
Divest McGill members held a banner as they sang and chanted to interrupt the meeting, voicing their opposition to the proposed amendment and the lack of community consultations about it.
“We looked over the report and found the provisions unacceptable, and we believe that they should go through a community consultation first,” Divest McGill organiser James Flanagan, U2 History said.
Policy Concerning Smoking at McGill University
Yves Beauchamp, Vice Principal (Administration and Finance), announced McGill’s new smoking policy at the meeting. With the exception of four proposed smoking zones, the policy will make both of McGill’s campuses smoke-free by May 1, 2018. The planned smoking zones are located by the James Administration building, Schulich Library, Redpath Museum, and McIntyre Medical Building. McGill plans to phase out these zones by 2023, making both campuses entirely smoke-free.
The provincial Tobacco Control Act, passed by the National Assembly of Québec in 2015, requires colleges and universities in the province to adopt tobacco control policies geared towards establishing smoke-free campuses. Under the law, universities must establish smoke-free areas on campuses, discourage smoking, and foster initiatives in student associations to do the same.
“We want to make sure that the public understands that our campus will eventually be smoke-free,” Beauchamp said. “However, the establishment of transitionary smoke-free areas gives us time to evaluate the impact of a smoke-free campus. We want to avoid a rush of people [smoking] on University, Sherbrooke, and McTavish.”
Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) President Muna Tojiboeva expressed concern at the meeting that students would not be able to differentiate between the proposed smoking zones and McTavish street, which is public.
“We plan to speak to the City of Montreal, to see if it is possible to make McTavish non-smoking,” Beauchamp said. “There will also be signage indicating where smoking is allowed.”
Additionally, there are no plans to remove the smoking zones at Upper Rez or Solin.
“Upper Rez is isolated,” Beauchamp said. “Forcing students to go down to the street, particularly at night, is a potential safety issue.”
Royal Victoria Hospital Site Update
Peter Coughlin, co-founder of real estate and investment company Redbourne Properties and member-at-large on the BoG, presented an update on plans for the RVH site, which remains vacant. In March 2015, the government of Quebec gave McGill a grant of $4 million to fund research into how the site may be used. McGill’s current proposal to integrate the buildings into the University for much-needed teaching and research space will cost $650 million, of which the government of Quebec will pay $500 million. However, the BoG is still deliberating whether to move forward with the project.
“We are enthusiastic but it would be wrong to say that we don’t have concerns,” Coughlin said. “[We are concerned about] the additional costs associated with the heritage status of the buildings, the environmental impact of the construction, and the incurred costs of taking over other buildings on the site, as well as raising or borrowing $150 million [to cover costs].”
Coughlin wants reassurance that McGill is able to provide the funds before moving forward, and that the provincial government’s support won’t come at cost of other University initiatives.
“We also need an answer to the question, if Quebec funds RVH, will they continue to fund other projects on McGill campus?” Coughlin said. “We would like to go to the next stage, but only with a set of conditions that will minimise the risks for the university.”
Viewpoint: How I learned the importance of sleep hygiene
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Don't let the students posting Snapchat stories of how late they've been cramming at McLennan fool you—there's nothing glamorous about insomnia. The condition, which affects 30 to 50 per cent of the United States population, can be one of detrimental to both academic success and student wellbeing.
I would know: In the winter of 2017–my first year at McGill–I developed chronic insomnia. Previously, while I was never the model sleeper, I at least slept an average of seven hours per night. After coming to university, however, my sleep quality began to drop drastically. By March, I was happy if I got even three hours of sleep at night. Looking back, I can now see clear signs that something was wrong. Insomnia is more than not getting enough sleep; it’s a reduction in quality of life. My days and nights blurred together, my mood became irritable, and I suffered from daily headaches, muscle tension, and overall sluggishness.
But perhaps the worst effect of insomnia—and one that I think often goes unmentioned—is feeling like you’ve lost control of your life. As I slept less and less, I couldn’t tell when I would wake up, and it didn’t help that I had 8:30 a.m. classes everyday. Even when I did manage to wake up and make it to class, I would often crash in the afternoons. I felt out of sync from everyone around me, who seemed perfectly fine navigating night to day.
When I missed a morning midterm because I fell asleep without realizing it, I knew I had to get professional help. In doing so, however, I faced a handful of problems. With my sleep issues, making the 8 a.m. registration at the McGill Health Clinic felt nearly impossible. Even when I managed to drag myself to the clinic, I was turned down twice, and ultimately had to wait three more weeks to see a doctor. Accessing McGill’s resources was stressful, but when I finally got to see a professional at the Clinic, things started to look up.
At the Clinic, I took a complete blood test and discovered I had a severe iron deficiency. I hadn’t anticipated how much my micronutrient intake could affect the quality of my sleep. Taking supplements didn’t solve my problem overnight, but I did begin to feel more energetic after a few weeks. I was also referred to a counsellor, as chronic insomnia is usually a result of stress. Using McGill’s services, I was able to identify some underlying issues that were keeping me awake.
Nevertheless, insomnia took months to improve. While I did everything my doctors told me to, I came up with some invaluable ‘sleep hacks’ of my own. In hindsight, the process helped me understand my own needs more; I came to realize that conventional ‘sleep hygiene’ methods—like avoiding naps, taking baths, and developing sleep rituals—don’t work for everyone. For instance, while exercising is not recommended before bed, I found that I slept better on the days I exercised in the evening and took a warm shower afterward, as I tired my body and cleared my brain before dozing off.
I also realized that I would spend an irrational time keeping myself ‘busy’ well past 2 a.m., even though I knew how much I needed to sleep. I’ve had many negative experiences trying to sleep but not being able to, and at some point, I began to avoid heading off to bed, which didn’t allow my sleep cycle to improve. I worked around my avoidance of sleep by slowly reducing the lighting in my room, tricking me into getting to bed without actually feeling the pressure to sleep.
After a few months of treatment, the number of hours I slept on average trickled upwards, and I now get almost seven hours a night, as I was used to. Whether you’re struggling to meet deadlines, or afraid you’ll crash yet again in the SSMU lounge, know that insomnia is a legitimate disorder. Asking for help and staying patient as you toss and turn are worth the nights of sound, untroubled sleep to come.
Last minute holiday gifts: DIY bath bombs
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’Tis the season of gift exchanges, twinkly lights, and hot chocolate. As students, though, our all-consuming studies intrude on this joyful season, leaving little time to find the perfect gift amid exams and essays. For those short on time, a quicker alternative to buying the right gift is often making it. Bath bombs are a trendy, enjoyable, and easily homemade gift to win the hearts of everybody on your Christmas list this year.
DIY Detonator
Yields one bath bomb.
Ingredients:
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½ cup baking soda
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¼ cup corn starch
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¼ cup citric acid*
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¼ cup Epsom salt
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1 to 1 ½ tsp. water
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1 tsp. essential oil, any scent
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1 ¼ tsp. coconut oil
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1-2 drops food colouring (optional)
You will need:
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Two medium-sized mixing bowls
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A cupcake tray
*If you cannot find citric acid, then you can use lemon juice, but it will not be as fizzy.
Instructions:
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In the first mixing bowl, combine the baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Mix together thoroughly.
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Melt the coconut oil in the microwave or on the stove, in order to combine it more easily with the other wet ingredients.
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Mix the melted coconut oil in with the citric acid, water, essential oil, and food colouring in the other mixing bowl.
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Mix the wet and dry ingredients together, but make sure to do so slowly. You do not want to encounter any activation, such as fizzing or bubbling.
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As you are mixing, if the ingredients do not stick together, add in water until they do.
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Fill the cupcake tray with the mixture.
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Let the bath bombs sit overnight in the refrigerator.
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The next morning, using hot water, warm the outside of the cupcake tray to gently remove the bath bombs in one piece.
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Once the bath bombs are ready to go, wrap them however you please.
Recipe adapted from A Beautiful Mess.
Ask Ainsley: My roommate doesn’t like me bringing people home. What gives?
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Dear Ainsley,
I've recently been bringing guys home with me to hook up and my roommate isn't happy about it. But it's not like I'm bringing home strangers. It's getting unbearable, and I'm stressed all the time. What do I do? My roommate just doesn't seem to understand.
Sincerely,
Handling Hookup Hostility (HHH)
Dear HHH,
I am so sorry that you’re going through such a difficult situation. It sounds like you and your roommate definitely need to have an in-depth conversation about what’s making them upset and how this tension is affecting you both. But before going into this conversation, consider what the underlying cause for their moodiness may be. It might not have anything to do with your sex life, or it might have everything to do with it. The thing is, you won’t know until you two talk it out.
First off, try putting yourself in your roommate’s shoes. They could be bothered by feeling like their space and privacy are being violated. Perhaps they’re uncomfortable with having someone they’re unfamiliar with sleep over. Is it possible that they are able to hear you having sex? You having late-night guests could be disturbing their sleep schedule. If this is the case, their grumpiness may be more about their space than your sex.
Even if it is a sex thing, it’s possible that your roommate is just projecting their insecurities onto you. If they are not one who often has hookups, could they be feeling jealous of you in some way? Perhaps they’re going through a tough time romantically, and seeing your prospering sex life is a reminder of where theirs is lacking. Also, try to consider whether you may be casting some of your nervousness about bringing home a hookup onto your roommate. Being with new people can be nerve-wracking, and may lead you to feel unsure about things. If you’re feeling uncertain about a new partner, you are more likely to overthink your roommate’s comments on the matter.
If you feel that your roommate is slut-shaming you—passing judgment, saying blatantly offensive things, or making microaggressive comments about your sex life—you may consider having a conversation with them about that as well. It is completely unacceptable for your roommate to make you feel guilty or ashamed about about your sexual activity. Remember that only you can make choices about your sexuality and how to lead your sex life. Any choice you make in this regard is valid, and having regular sex is a positive thing, given that you and your partners eagerly consent to all interactions.
Regardless of the reasons your roommate is being critical, having a conversation about how you feel and why will be helpful for both of you, as continuous tension will take a toll on your friendship and your living situation. Approaching conversations like this may feel awkward, but think through your word choice ahead of time and start with using “I” statements to express how you’re feeling. Make sure to ask for your roommate’s opinion as much as you share your own, so that you both feel like you’re getting to express how you’re feeling.
This dialogue may also need to include a talk about slut-shaming. Your roommate may not realize they are doing it, or how harmful it can be. Through seeing how their judgement is affecting you, they may be able to understand how slut-shaming also affects society’s view of women’s sexuality in general.
Once you talk to your roommate about what’s causing their frustration, then you can negotiate and find compromises. Your roommate may need to lay off the judgmental comments and side eyes, but likewise, you may need to set some ground rules about how often you bring someone over, or how long they’re allowed to stay. If you’re not bringing strangers home, and your hookup is more of a regular thing, it might even be worth encouraging them to spend time with your roommate beyond those awkward 2 a.m. bathroom run-ins. You could host a movie night, a dinner, or just have them over during the day; let both people know individually that it’s important to you that they get along and make an effort to talk in moments big and small.
However hard it may be, it’s important for you to find healthy and productive solutions to your problems, as living with someone who makes you uncomfortable and unwelcome is very stressful and could negatively affect your mental health. Know that your feelings of frustration are completely valid. I hope that through discussing the roots behind this problem, you will be able to create a more comfortable living situation—and continue hosting your hook ups.
Good luck,
Ainsley
SSMU Council discusses governance, financing student activities
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On Nov. 30, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held its last Legislative Council session of the Fall semester. At the meeting, SSMU Funding Commissioner Lauréanne Pelletier gave a presentation on financing student activities. Council also passed the Motion Regarding the Provision of Bridge Funding for Savoy Society and discussed the Governance Changes Working Group.
Funding Commissioner Presentation
At the beginning of the meeting, SSMU Funding Commissioner Lauréanne Pelletier provided an overview of the different SSMU funds available to students and clubs. In the past year, the Funding Committee approved financing for a variety of projects, including $6,000 for the McGill Iron Rink, an outdoor ice rink on lower field.
So far, the committee has reviewed 72 funding applications, and approved 55 of them, amounting to $60,000 in funding. Pelletier aims to raise awareness of existing SSMU funds so that more members can take advantage of the resources.
“We are not getting enough applications,” Pelletier said. “There is so much money left. The first thing I am doing is talking to different commissioners to try to partner up with them to promote the funds.”
Next semester, Pelletier will launch social media campaigns in partnership with Campus Life & Engagement (CLE) to inform students of the application procedures for funding.
Motion Regarding the Provision of Bridge Funding for Savoy Society
Council next considered a motion to loan $20,000 to the The McGill Savoy Society, a non-profit student theatre group, to cover costs for its annual production. Previously a SSMU Service, the Savoy Society relied on funds from the SSMU budget. However, in Fall 2016, the Service Review Committee decided that the Society’s activities did not qualify as services and thus it lost its status as well as the funding that SSMU provides to all of its services. Savoy Society President Hannah Moloshok and Treasurer Adrian Nagy attended Council as gallery members.
Given that the Savoy Society ran a deficit last year, Councillors were concerned with its ability to repay the loan. Moloshok claimed that the deficit is overstated because of accounting mistakes made while the Society was transferring money from the Service bank account to its own club bank account.
“Actually, the only loan that we still need to repay is $1,600,” Moloshok said. “Currently, we have already received $6,000 from our solicitations of the alumni association. Along with revenue from bake sales, donations, sponsors, crowd-funding campaigns, and ticket sales, we expect to pay back the debt in no time.”
Nagy seconded Moloshok’s statement, highlighting that, historically, the Savoy Society has exhibited budgetary success.
“In the past 10 school years, we have only had three deficits, and the rest were all surpluses,” Nagy said. “Based on last year’s numbers, we are expecting to make at least $16,000 in ticket sales this year.”
With a majority vote, this motion carried, effectively issuing a $20,000 loan to Savoy Society, with an expected repayment by May 31, 2018.
Governance Changes Working Group
The Governance Changes Working Group, spearheaded by SSMU Vice-President (VP) External Affairs Connor Spencer, aims to provide general education on SSMU governance to bridge the gap between students and their representatives.
“It is really irresponsible of us to start a conversation on governance changes without acknowledging that these procedures are so inaccessible to our membership,” Spencer said.
To address inaccessibility of governance documents, one of the working group’s suggestions is to create a Joint Board of Directors and Legislative Council Committee, which will house two working groups: One to review the legal wording of SSMU documents and another to increase the visibility of governance procedures.
“We also need to consider the things that have alienated our membership,” Spencer said. “Largely, those have been scandals, and the two biggest scandals have been sexual violence and [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] BDS. We have accountability to the people who elected us. So let’s stop discussing [these issues] behind closed doors.’’
The working group will send the proposed governance changes before the end of the nomination period on Feb. 22, 2018, to be ratified by SSMU members during the Winter 2018 Referendum.
Are millennials growing tired of clickbait?
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Quality journalism needs financial resources to sustain itself. This simple fact is both inescapable and incredibly important, given the role that journalism plays in keeping governments accountable and civil discourse informed. Publications promote paid subscriptions as a source of funding, but, according to the American Press Institute, only 29 per cent of American adults pay for newspaper, magazine, or news site subscriptions. The 2017 Reuters Institute Digital News Report indicated an increase in paid subscriptions among millennials in the United States from 2016 and 2017, digital subscriptions to online news sources increased 14 per cent among individuals aged 18 to 24, and by 12 per cent among those from 25 to 34. This development seems to indicate a positive realization that if they want to see good journalism survive, young people today must open their wallets for quality-driven news organizations and up-and-coming digital platforms.
When a publication lacks financial resources, it can be forced to downsize or even fold. A 2016 Pew Research Report has indicated the U.S. newsroom workforce has shrunk by almost 40 per cent in the last 20 years. Without a profitable subscription base, it may also be incentivized to produce material that will maximize revenue generated from digital advertising. Since a publication receives a fraction of a cent for every reader that clicks on the ad associated with the article’s content, in order to generate traffic to their website, content producers must focus on what is marketable and viral, often at the expense of what is informative. Examples of this include clickbait, and the rise of “fake news” during the 2016 American presidential election. This is concerning for any citizen who wishes to be informed, not merely entertained, by the news.
Additionally, the online advertising market is extremely competitive with tech companies Facebook and Google dominating the field. Estimates indicate that Facebook and Google accounted for 89 per cent of the growth in the digital advertising market in 2016. In effect, these Silicon Valley giants have a duopoly over online advertising sales, decreasing the slice of the pie left for news outlets. As a result, it is essential that news organizations find ways to increase subscriptions profits, and decrease their reliance on online advertising revenue.
Subscribing to receive a news organization’s content is like entering a contract: The consumer makes a commitment to an organization that they value for its ability to keep them informed through well-written, trustworthy, and thoughtful content.
A 2017 study by the Media Insight Project determined that those who do pay for news value quality over cheapness. As such, a growth in millennial news subscriptions may indicate that young people are increasingly willing to pay for quality journalism, and, correspondingly, that there is greater profit to be found in the future in the form of subscriptions. Subscribing to receive a news organization’s content is like entering a contract: The consumer makes a commitment to an organization that they value for its ability to keep them informed through well-written, trustworthy, and thoughtful content. This is in stark contrast to some of the large digital platforms that have gained popularity, such as VICE, with a business model that has shifted toward fast-produced video content where ad revenue is more profitable, and away from written content that provides deeper analysis on a given issue.
Perhaps this is why young people in the United States are seeing the value in paid news subscriptions. Nic Newman, a contributor to the Reuters report, cites the outcome of the election and the misinformation that accompanied it as an important catalyst for this shift among young people back to traditional media, including the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and the Washington Post. The timing in this upsurge of young paid subscribers indicates that these individuals realize the particular importance of paying for journalism in a time of political turmoil and polarization. Young people are realizing the benefits of consuming content from journalists beholden to a subscriber base that demands the facts, not rhetoric.
Moving forward, it is important to get into the mindset of paying for reliable media sources, new and old, in order to ensure that the quality of journalism remains strong. This in turn will require news publications to continue making efforts to expand their digital subscription base.
McGill Association of University Teachers votes to divest from fossil fuels
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On Nov. 8, the McGill Association of University Teachers’ (MAUT) Council voted unanimously to divest from fossil fuels, moving approximately $500,000 out of its investment portfolios which include holdings in fossil fuel companies. The MAUT also passed a motion by a vote of 13-3 calling on McGill’s Board of Governors (BoG) to follow suit with the university’s endowment and pension fund.
The MAUT Council, which represents the university’s academic staff members in the McGill Senate and other national academic committees, asserted that the continued extraction of oil reserves by major fossil fuel companies hampers global efforts to mitigate climate change. Additionally, the council invoked McGill’s divestment from the South African apartheid regime in 1985 and from tobacco companies in 2007, and argued that McGill organizations have a duty to apply pressure on industries responsible for social injury.
“We each have a role to play to do what we can to support the environment,” MAUT President Alenoush Saroyan said. “We need to be on the right side of history on this one within our boundary of possibility.”
Supporters of the MAUT’s motions—which follow the Faculty of Arts’ endorsement of divestment in December 2015—hope that it will push the BoG to divest McGill’s pension plan and endowment of $1.5 billion; in 2012, Divest McGill, a student group on campus that lobbies for fossil fuel divestment, estimated that 5.7 per cent of this endowment was in fossil fuel, with The Montreal Gazette putting that number at about 5 per cent in 2015. Although he expects McGill’s divestment would have a minimal financial impact on the fossil fuel industry, Environmental Philosophy Professor and member of McGill Faculty for Divestment Gregory Mikkelson emphasized the political and moral dimensions of such an action and its potential to encourage discussion about environmental legislation.
“MAUT’s divestment of its own funds is a good demonstration that we are walking the walk as well as talking the talk,” Mikkelson said. “And if the alma mater of the Canadian prime minister took this step, it would have a huge symbolic political impact.”
Despite the recent victory, proponents of fossil fuel divestment face an uphill battle against the administration. In March 2016, the BoG accepted the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility’s (CAMSR) recommendation not to divest McGill’s endowment. Members of the Committee argued that McGill could combat climate change more effectively through sustainability projects on campus such as the Vision 2020 program, a plan to reduce the university’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 13,500 tons over the next two years, and the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan to become carbon neutral by 2040.
“The Board, acting on the advice of […] CAMSR, has determined that the best way for McGill to address the very real problem of climate change is to take action that will make a difference,” BoG President Ram Panda wrote in a statement to the Tribune. “MAUT and other groups have different views on this subject [and] it is clear the conversation will continue and we look forward to it.”
Students activists will also remain engaged in this conversation, according to Jed Lenetsky, a Divest McGill organizer. According to Lenetsky, the group plans to continue soliciting community support for divestment in order to pressure the BoG into changing its stance. Lenetsky and other members of Divest McGill see the MAUT’s decision as a sign that the academic community disagrees with the BoG’s conclusion to not divest.
“It’s further evidence of how out there their decision making was when the association of McGill’s professors is openly disagreeing with the decisions made by the administration,” Lenetsky said.
Supporters of divestment remain optimistic at the movement’s prospects over the coming years.
“I think the BoG will divest eventually,” Mikkelson said. “It’s just a question of how much kicking and screaming is necessary.”
Bridging the gap: fostering a partnership between Walksafe and Service d’accueil
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Following the cancellation of transportation services due to cuts in school board funding in September 2016, McGill Walksafe partnered with Service d’accueil du Centre Multi-Ethnique St-Louis, a daycare linked with FACE elementary school. Although the children were previously able to take busses from the Service d’accueil daycare to the Recreation Association of Milton Park for afterschool activities, Walksafe volunteers will now be accompanying them on their commute.
Walksafe is a volunteer student service under the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) that provides accompaniment from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Friday and 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturdays nights for people walking home around the Downtown campus who feel uncomfortable or unable to do so alone. In addition to their normal duties, volunteers from Walksafe will walk children to the community centre in the early afternoon, after school ends for the day.
The partnership came about at the beginning of October, when Jason Prince, the president of the Service d’accueil daycare program and a McGill alumnus, reached out to Walksafe Operations Coordinator Dani Arellano for help following FACE’s budget cuts. The pair have since been working to officially launch the pilot program next semester.
“The pilot project is very promising, and we hope to extend the project forever,” Prince said. “It’s a wonderful community service that shows the kind of role a university can play in its surrounding neighborhoods.”
Arellano is looking forward to continuing the partnership as well, though she acknowledges the increased burden that it may pose on Walksafe’s volunteer base.
“We are really excited about the partnership,” Arellano said. “So far, it has been working really well, although, we could always use more volunteers. The response we have gotten from Jason [Prince] and the team has been very positive […and] the kids are really awesome and it has been a lot of fun getting to know them. We hope we can continue the program and create a stronger bond to the community through it.”
According to Walksafe Vice-President Communications Ali Akbar, the new partnership provides a unique opportunity for students to help out the greater Montreal community.
“[Walksafe’s] motto is ‘Anyone, anywhere on the island of Montreal,’” Akbar wrote to The McGill Tribune. “However, we focus our outreach program within McGill so although it is true that we do provide our services to the greater Montreal community, no one outside of McGill actually calls us.”
Other McGill offices applauded Walksafe’s project, including Lisa Gallagher, Executive Director of the McGill Childcare Centre, a daycare for the children of members of the McGill community. To Gallagher children’s safety should be the public’s first concern.
“I think that any community initiative that supports the safety of children is a worthy and valuable initiative,” Gallagher said. “A safe and secure environment for children is the first priority for communities in general and particularly within daycare and school settings. I believe in the adage that it takes a village to raise a child.”
Another SSMU service, DriveSafe, is also supportive of Walksafe’s new initiative. DriveSafe operates a similar service to Walksafe, offering volunteer car rides to McGill students from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. However, DriveSafe President Sophie Forest acknowledged that it is unlikely that DriveSafe will be able to get involved in this partnership with Service d’accueil due to financial constraints. Whereas it costs nothing to walk, DriveSafe must cover car rentals costs with student fees.
“[Although] we are happy to see that Walksafe is able to help the great Montreal community, unfortunately for DriveSafe, it would be much harder to do something similar,” Forest said. “On our end, DriveSafe volunteers have been given the option to help out Walksafe with the Service d'accueil program by joining the Walksafe team as a walker. Other than that it is unlikely we can do much else to help as we have much higher operating expenses than Walksafe.”