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Basketball, Martlets, Sports

Basketball season opener ends in McGill Martlets loss

by Ender McDuff on

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It was an emotional start to the season: In a tough championship final rematch on Nov. 4, the McGill Martlets basketball team (0-1)—top-ranked defending national champions—fell to L’Université Laval Rouge et Or (1-0), 58-50 in their RSEQ regular season opener at Love Competition Hall. At the start of the game, the Martlets stood with their arms interlinked for the banner-raising ceremony for the prior season’s U Sports Women’s Basketball Championship—the first national championship title in team history.

Finishing with an 8-2 record, the champs looked sharp in the preseason, outscoring their opponents by more than 14 points per game. The Martlets hoped that they would not succumb to the slow start that had plagued their previous season. This would prove a difficult challenge against a Laval team looking to avenge last season’s championship loss, and fueled by a stifling full-court press.

The McGill faithful erupted early after the Martlets opened up the game’s scoring with their first shot, but poor shooting kept them from pulling away, and the lead changed 15 times during the game. The teams stayed within five points of each other through the first half. The Martlets entered the locker room with a 29-28 advantage, propelled by 10 points and six rebounds from fifth-year centre Alex Kiss-Rusk. The third quarter saw a quicker pace and some sloppy play from both teams that ended with the Martlets still holding onto a one-point lead, 45-44.

With Kiss-Rusk on the bench to start, the Martlets’ shooting woes caught up with them in the final quarter as they were held off the scoreboard until there were only three minutes left in the game. Laval’s lead grew to 11 points, as the Rouge et Or had McGill on the ropes.

However, fifth-year guard Frederique Potvin gave the Martlets new life with a driving layup that ended the drought. Potvin soon grabbed a crucial offensive rebound, leading to a layup by fourth-year wing Marie-Love Michel, which cut the lead to two possessions. However, with a minute to go, Laval hit a mid-range jumper, a dagger that put the game out of reach.

Following the loss, the Martlets turned their focus toward improving for future games.

“We want to make sure we take care of the little things we can control,” Potvin said. “Long and short safety, three people going to the board. And also we’ve got to hit some shots.”

McGill sank less than a third of their shots from the field, which understandably frustrated the team.

“We’ve got to stop settling for shots.” Kiss-Rusk said. “We were settling for some tough ones at times, which obviously makes it harder for them to go in.”

Despite the pre-game banner raising ceremony, Head Coach Ryan Thorne stressed the need for the Martlets to improve every game and not rest on last year’s success.

“If we can get better every game, then what happens at the end will take care of itself.” Thorne said.

The Martlets next home game is scheduled for Nov. 18, when McGill hosts the cross-town rival Concordia Stingers.

 

Moment of the Game

Love Competition Hall, packed with fans eager to celebrate their championship team, was quick to erupt as the Martlets won the opening tip and scored first on strong ball movement that culminated in a three-pointer by third-year guard Geraldine Cabillo-Abante.

 

Quotable

“Last year is last year. We aren’t trying to measure ourselves based on last year.” – McGill Head Coach Ryan Thorne

 

Stat corner

The Martlets couldn’t buy a bucket, shooting 17-56 from the field (30 per cent) and 4-22 from three (18 per cent).

Off the Board, Opinion

It’s November—Merry Christmas!

by Grace Bahler on

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Today, there are exactly 48 days until Christmas. But, the most wonderful time of the year has already begun.

The day after Halloween, stores switch out their cobwebs and witch hats for cheery window displays with fake snow and tinsel filling their fronts. The candy aisles transform, too, from cheap bags of mixed gummies to gourmet chocolate and candy canes. Christmas is no longer restrained to the last week of December—it now starts Nov. 1—and I am here for it. Although it’s become the norm to hate on this trend, there is nothing wrong with starting the party early.

The first week of every November, you can find me roaming the aisles of Dollarama, stuffing my basket with twinkly lights, scented candles, over-the-top velvet bows, and occasionally a wreath. It’s almost difficult not to commence the celebrations: When stores go from Halloweentown to a Winter Wonderland overnight, giddiness is the instant reaction. In a mere month-and-a-half, exams will be over and students will find themselves at home with family and high school friends. ‘Tis the season to look forward to it all.

For context, I’m American, and our Thanksgiving is not until the tail-end of November. But, when I came to McGill two years ago, Canadian Thanksgiving came and went before Halloween. Suddenly, it was November, and I found myself in a slight lull with nothing to celebrate. Then came Christmas. It became my holiday, and it became the thing that got me through the dreadful essay and exam season. Nothing puts me in a state of euphoria as much as organizing Secret Santas, or curling up with a good book and eggnog while it snows.

It’s not just the material items that accompany Christmas that I love, though. Growing up, holidays always held a sentimental value. On Easter and Thanksgiving, my whole family would pile into my grandma’s house and we’d celebrate like no other. I have countless fond memories from years past, but nothing is quite as special as Christmas. Dec. 25 was always a day of pure happiness. As a kid, presents were the main source of that happiness, along with notes from “Santa.” But now, it’s the quality time that I get with my family and friends that sparks the most joy. I used to take this time for granted, but coming home for the holidays from McGill has made me realize how special it is to be with family and old friends.

In a mere month-and-a-half, exams will be over and students will find themselves at home with family and high school friends. ‘Tis the season to look forward to it all.

There’s a certain aesthetic that comes with the holiday season, too, regardless of what holidays one celebrates. We have commercialism to thank for this. Christmas has been at the forefront of materialistic North America, with decorations and gifts at the centre of celebration.

For some, this isn’t ideal; it strays from the religious history of the holiday. However, I live for Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” and re-watching Love Actually throughout most of November and December. Although this form of Christmas may very well be a dream that capitalism has conjured, it’s a dream that I welcome. Celebrating it so early is simply an escape from the hustle and bustle of student life. It’s living in a dream where all you hear is Michael Buble’s voice, and all you drink is superb hot cocoa. I may be a true sucker for the commercialization of Christmas, but there’s nothing that I love more than seeing Starbucks holiday cups and making my annual gingerbread house.

The holidays pass by fast, so we might as well enjoy them as much as possible. Pharmaprix and Dollarama trinkets aren’t there just to buy—they’re there to get everyone in the spirit. That’s what Christmas is really about. Beyond watching Elf while eating Lindt chocolate, it’s the warm and fuzzy holiday feeling inside that matters. Christmas encompasses everything from wholesome memories to wholesale candy. And the best part is, the joy begins long before Dec. 25, and extends far past it. I carry a little bit of Christmas around with me all year—but in November, it really starts to show.

 

 

Grace Bahler is a U2 International Development and Communications student and Student Living Editor at the Tribune. One time she accidentally swallowed a bee while running.

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 

 
Hockey, Men's Varsity, Sports

McGill Redmen hockey restrain Ridgebacks in late-game surge

by Patrick Beacham on

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On Nov. 4, the McGill Redmen (8-2-0) outlasted the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks (5-2-1), 4-2, in a hockey match plagued by penalties and turnovers. While it wasn’t a dominant performance, McGill coaches were still happy with the effort that placed them atop the OUA.

“Overall, it was a good team game,” Redmen Assistant Coach David Urquhart said. “We played for a solid 60 minutes, which is good to see on back-to-back nights, to not have a letdown after having a big win the night before.”

McGill’s offence was slow to start in the first two periods of the game. Finding trouble executing breakouts and generating scoring opportunities, the Redmen only scored one goal in the first period.

“Sometimes it’s [that] you get sloppy in the slot and you don’t apply the extra effort to put it behind the goalie,” third-year forward Jerome Verrier said. “Once everything [is] working, […] you just shoot the puck and it goes in.”

To add to their uphill battle, the Redmen were frustrated by an extended string of penalties. While such a handicap usually dooms teams, McGill’s stellar penalty-kill dug in and fended off UOIT on almost every power play.

“I can’t say that we could have done anything better than what we did defensively,” third-year defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi said. “We got scored on in the last [penalty kill….] Maybe we could have blocked that shot, but we played a solid game defensively.”

    Once again, the Redmen strategy of attrition paid off, finally wearing the Ridgebacks down. Late in the game, McGill’s emphasis on puck control won out as they outmaneuvered UOIT with crisp tape-to-tape passes and took the second period 2-1.

    “We’ve been working on our conditioning, we’ve been working on our battle drills and everything like that,” fifth-year forward Jan Kaminsky said. “At the end of the day, if we’re going into the second and third period [with better conditioning] than the other team, we’re gonna wear them down and see some success in the later parts of the game.”

    The win placed the Redmen at the top of the OUA conference. With upcoming matches against the Laurentian Voyageurs on Nov. 10 and the Nipissing Lakers on Nov. 11, they have every intention of holding their first-place league position.

    “We can beat anybody in this league, so [if we] just play our style and everything will go well,” Verrier said.

 

Moment of the Game

With 20 seconds left in the second period, the puck zigzagged across the offensive end down to the slot, where second-year centre Alexandre Sills stuffed a one-timer in the net.

 

Stat Corner

The Redmen and Ridgebacks took a combined 44 minutes in penalties.

 

Quotable

“Usually they [the referees] let us play more, but tonight they were strict and we had to adapt to it” – McGill third-year defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi on the numerous penalties on both sides.

Science & Technology

Just keep swimming… or not: The story of male contraceptives

by Gwenyth Wren on

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Men and women are both responsible for pregnancy; yet, the burden of preventing it often falls on women.

The fact that most types of birth control are made for women creates this discrepancy, as men don’t have the same selection of methods: Female birth control includes hormone injections, morning after pills, Intrautrine Devices (IUDs), female condoms, diaphragms, cervical caps, implants, vaginal rings, vaginal sponges, and contraceptive pills.

On the other hand, men have two forms of birth control: Condoms or a vasectomy. However, the male birth control pill could potentially become a reality.

Researchers at Michigan State University have been using gene editing technology CRISPR/Cas9 to block the gene that controls sperm production in mice. This process, has proven successful thus far. Chen Chen, an assistant professor in animal science at Michigan State University, believes his team’s discovery is the first step of many toward creating effective male birth control that can block the expression of the sperm gene in humans, called PNLDC1. This genetic editing technology completely stopped the PNLCD1 expression in male mice, thus rendering them infertile. In mice, the sterilization was permanent; however, the researchers hope to create a birth control that will temporarily block sperm production.

However promising this research may seem, the reality is that scientists and researchers have been a few years away from male contraceptive pill for decades. Gregory Pincus, who co-invented female oral contraceptive, tested the same hormonal approach on men in 1957. Since then, multiple studies, trials, experiments, and findings regarding the research and development of a male contraceptive pill have been conducted.

The Journal of Sex Research published a study by Sanford A. Weinstein and Gloria Goebel in 1979 discussing the plausibility of a male contraceptive.

“[Now] a contraceptive pill for males appears to be within the reach of biochemical science,” the study noted.

A McGill PhD candidate in Pharmacology, Thomas Nardelli, explains that the lack of funding is not to blame for the lack of male contraceptives.

“It is wrong to say money has not been invested in this field of research,” Nardelli explained. “[Research on male contraception] has traditionally been funded by many grants from funding agencies.”

Pharmaceutical companies have been reluctant to venture into the male contraceptive market. Clinical trials for the male birth control pill have never moved past initial phases of testing. This reluctance comes from the nature of the medication, as pharmaceutical companies view investment in male birth control as a financial risk due to a lack of demand from men.

For one, side effects of birth control have dissuaded men from taking contraceptives. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism  in 2008 conducted a test of the effectiveness of a male hormonal contraceptive shot.

To all men: Would you be willing to take oral contraceptives (birth control pills)?

Yes
No

made here

The study cited that many men pulled out—pun intended—early because they could not handle the side effects of the birth control: Acne, mood swings, and depression. While women’s birth control also causes a litany of side effects, they are viewed as an acceptable norm.

Some believe that the lack of male birth control has nothing to do with science. Austrian- American scientist Carl Djerassi, otherwise known as the father of the female pill, spoke to this topic in an interview in 2014.

"This resistance has nothing to do with science. We know exactly how to develop the male pill,” Djerassi said. “But there’s not a single pharmaceutical company who will touch it for economic and socio-political, rather than scientific, reasons.”

However, it would be unreasonable to blame the lack of male contraceptive options solely on society. According to Nardelli, female hormonal birth control is easier to develop than male.

“Traditional hormone therapies used in women do not work as well in men,” Nardelli said. “In women, during pregnancy, hormones are produced to stop ovulation. The female birth control pill contains these hormones to block further ovulation. A similar process does not exist in men as they continuously produce sperm throughout their lives.”

It would require more trials, research, and effort to develop male birth control. The lack of effort into the development is where socio-economic factors come into play.

Asking a few male McGill students about male contraceptives produced a general consensus of passivity and indifference. Male birth control is not viewed as a need, and thus male birth control will remain the same as it has since 1957—a great, broken, promise.

News, SSMU

SSMU Board members to remain past the end of their term

by Kendall McGowan on

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On Oct. 28, the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Judicial Board (J-Board) released an interim order suspending the results of the Oct. 23 General Assembly (GA) vote ratifying the nominations for the new Board of Directors (BoD), which would begin sitting after Nov. 15. While this vote is normally done as a bloc, ratifying all nominations at once, SSMU Vice-President (VP) External Maya Koparkar motioned to divide the question, which passed, allowing GA attendees to ratify each nomination separately. The vote ratified the appointments of seven of the 10 individuals nominated.

The interim order was a response to a petition filed shortly after the GA by Jonathan Glustein, a current director on the BoD who was not up for reappointment. In the petition, Glustein claimed that the motion to divide the ratification question violated SSMU’s Constitution. In their interim conclusion, the J-Board ordered that all of the new Directors, including those who were unratified, be allowed to sit on the BoD from the start of their term, Nov. 15, until the Judicial Board renders its final opinion.

In his petition, Glustein asked the Judicial Board for the interim order to submit the list of 12 directors to be ratified as a bloc via online voting in the Fall 2017 Referendum, which opens Nov. 8.

In the interim order, however, the Judicial Board explained that they were unable to introduce the Referendum question Glustein requested. Referendum questions must be initiated by the Legislative Council or SSMU members, according to section 14.1 of the SSMU Constitution; additionally, they must be submitted two weeks before the voting period opens, which would have been Oct. 25.

“Even if [the Judicial Board] renders a final decision in favour of the unratified Directors, they could not make up the time they would have sat on the Board had the Board of Directors been ratified as a bloc,” the decision read.

However, at a BoD meeting on Nov. 5, SSMU President Muna Tojiboeva announced that upon consultation with legal counsel, the current members will remain on the BoD past the Nov. 15 term until the J-Board case is concluded.

“We have spoken to counsel and it seems that the current Board could be held over in the case that a Judicial Board decision cannot be issued by the Nov. 14 deadline,” Tojiboeva said.

Koparkar, who is listed as the main respondent on Glustein’s petition, is friendly to his suggestion and willing to go back to a bloc vote. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Koparkar explained that she motioned to split the vote because of concerns that the BoD was not truly democratic.

“The idea of having the Board members in the future on separate ballots was something that people seemed amenable to,” Koparkar said. “Because of how we voted on it at Legislative Council, and in talks with the executives and [Speaker], I was under the impression that people would be ok with it [….] I think we all just thought it would be an easy way of legitimizing the votes for each Director.”

According to Koparkar, the section of the SSMU Constitution primarily under consideration in this case is section 6.5, which mandates that nominated Directors be ratified by SSMU members through referendum or at the General Assembly. It also states that the whole must be in accordance with sections 6.2 and 6.3, which concern BoD composition and Director qualifications. Koparkar said the reference to “the whole” is the main point of disagreement.

“Some people took [“the whole”] as meaning a bloc vote, and some took it as meaning by the whole of the General Assembly,” Koparkar said. “I think that’s where things get confusing, and it’s the Judicial Board’s job to interpret these things.”

Former Council speaker Jad El Tal was listed in Glustein’s petition as a second respondent, but he resigned on Oct. 27. As the petition was filed against him solely in his professional capacity, he is no longer necessarily a part of the case. Additionally, although Koparkar made the initial motion to divide the vote on BoD ratification, debate was interrupted, and the motion to divide which ended up passing at the GA was made by a SSMU member, Chantelle Schultz, U3 Arts.

At the Nov. 5 BoD meeting, Glustein explained that naming Koparkar as a respondent was a deliberate and legally necessary choice.

“The reason why the VP Internal is listed as a respondent is because the idea was brought by the VP internal in the first place, as well as the fact that somebody needs to be named in a SSMU capacity in the Judicial Board case,” Glustein said.

Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

Redmen and Martlets swimming show strong spirit at RSEQ University Cup

by Dorothy Yip on

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On Oct. 28 at the McGill Sports Complex, passersby heard the McGill swim team’s deafening cheers from the Memorial Pool, where the season’s second RSEQ University Cup was being held. The McGill Redmen clinched a tight victory, while the Université de Montréal (UdeM) Carabins’ women splashed ahead of the Martlets. McGill ended the day in second place overall.

Despite juggling swimming and midterms, McGill’s swimmers managed to thrive at Saturday’s meet. Second-year Will Simpson won one gold and two silver medals, and fourth-year Jessica Warrack captured a gold and a bronze. Samuel Wang, a second-year Biochemistry major, reigned victorious in four events—the 4x100m medley, 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, and the 4x100m freestyle. He is aiming for the U Sports Nationals at the end of the season.

“Meets like these are definitely stepping stones towards that goal,” Wang said. “To be doing very well in the season is a good sign.”

The team’s newcomers also contributed to McGill’s success at the meet. Bradley Crocker, currently in the first year of his master’s degree, walked away with two golds. First year Bailey Mothe got third place in the 400m medley. Other rookies to look out for include Cecile Wiederkehr and Joseph Perry. McGill Head Coach Peter Carpenter praised the exceptional rookies.

“We have third- and fifth-year students joining the team for the first time,” Carpenter said. “Everywhere you turn you find rookies doing well and scoring points.”

Alongside the thrilling races, the home team’s spirit took centre stage. Swimmers slapped the edges of the pool to cheer their teammates on, and the roar of “Let's go Redmen” made it difficult for spectators to carry on conversations on the pool deck. According to the swimmers, the team atmosphere provides the base for their success in the pool.

“We all come from different backgrounds, but when we come here we're basically a family,” Wang explained.

Sarah Mehain, a fifth-year student who competed in the 4x100m medley, also recognized the importance of her teammates’ constant support—her favourite part of the team.

“The atmosphere,” Mehain said. “It’s really supportive and pumped up at swim meets.”

Similarly, Taryn Pratt, a first year who swam in four events, found that the cheering created a positive atmosphere that encouraged success.

“Although swimming is an individual sport, the whole team is right behind you lifting you up,” Pratt said.

McGill swimming has set a direction by creating collective goals for the season. The team is aiming for three-quarters of the swimmers to qualify for the U Sports National Championships at the end of February. But the goals aren't just limited to the pool: In terms of academics, the Martlets are aiming for a collective 3.0 GPA.

Despite the high academic bar and a full slate of work in and out of the pool leading in, Carpenter was thoroughly impressed by his team’s strong performance.

“Traditionally, the period between Cup 1 and Cup 2 is the hardest for our swimmers, since it comes after completing weeks of midterms,” Carpenter said. “Our first meet went very well, so we set a high bar […] but this is the best Cup 2 meet we've had by far.”

Indeed, McGill swimmers showed no sign of midterm fatigue and displayed inexhaustible energy throughout the day. As the team behind him roared in support of those in the water, the coach beamed. Looking toward the rest of the season, Carpenter explained that technical skills would be his major focus. These include the swimmers’ walls, kickoffs, and starts. As for McGill’s biggest strength, Carpenter gave one word—depth.

"McGill [scores] more fifth, sixth, seventh places by far,” he said. “[At] the end of the day, it helps a lot."

McGill will head to Outremont as the UdeM Carabins host the third leg of the University Cup on Nov. 25.

 

Moment of the meet

The pool deck exploded with cheers as second-year Will Simpson made his final stretch for silver in the 200m backstroke.

 

Quotable

“They have every reason to be tired, but the spirit is lifting everyone up. I’m very proud of them.” – McGill Head Coach Peter Carpenter

 

Stat Corner

Samuel Wang topped the medal board with four golds—the 4x100m medley, 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, and the 4x100m freestyle.

Commentary, Opinion

Early alert systems: The gap between conception and effects

by Elijah Wenzel on

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As with any university, McGill has many students who want to do well and make a positive impression on those around them, especially their professors. The impression most students do not want to make is the kind that causes concern rather than admiration, and one that could culminate in a referral to health and support services. For students at the University of Calgary, this is a new reality. More interestingly, what students might not know is that it is at McGill, too.

The University of Calgary released a press statement earlier this month on its website, detailing the institution of its new Thrive Priority Support. This new early alert system is set up so that when a student seems to be encountering difficulties, academic or otherwise, a professor may report it to the appropriate student support services—like the Student Success Centre and the Students’ Union Wellness Centre—who will contact the student and ask if the student would like to meet. McGill has had a similar system in place for some time. After an alert is sent by a professor, a case manager reviews relevant information about the student on a case-by-case basis and decides how to proceed, such as by emailing the student information about support services. While these services have definite benefits in the academic realm, they fall flat elsewhere, such as by singling out students with mental illness.

Early warning systems are well-intentioned and based on a philosophy of providing students with maximum support. Universities that institute these early alert networks demonstrate their commitment to their student body’s well-being. To this end, the system is most applicable in an academic context. Professors who look at a series of grades for a student and notice a sharp decline can use an alert system to report that, and, after contact with support services, the student can take advantage of appropriate academic resources such as tutors or other educational resources. As well, a professor could notify the early alert system if a student is chronically absent from class or appears isolated. This too could help struggling students who have not themselves found ways to right the ship. No note is made on the student’s transcript, and only those who need to know about it out of necessity will.

When difficulties in the classroom stem from personal struggles, […] there is no guarantee that an email from student support services will not just frighten a student and cause them to withdraw further.

When difficulties in the classroom stem from personal struggles, however, there is no guarantee that an email from student support services will not just frighten a student and cause them to withdraw further. The sudden appearance of an email insinuating that the student is an outlier certainly could have negative effects.

For all the good the system certainly does, it has less convincing aspects. Imagine a student who, for one reason or another, is feeling depressed and isolated. An email from student services, no matter how warm the tone, could be jarring and counterproductive by further discouraging the student from seeking aid. It may send a message that the student’s feelings of inadequacy permeate the surface and are visible. Reports from 2014 and 2017 by the Progressive Policy Think Tank and Equality Challenge Unit found that among students in England, some did not want to disclose their struggles for fear that fellow students or university faculty and staff would think less of them. In fact, an email of this sort may well be more a provocation than a godsend to a vulnerable student.

Additionally, while presented as unlikely by the system’s supporters, it is possible that a student could receive an email inviting them to counseling when nothing is wrong. This in turn may send the message to the student that their normal behaviour is off-putting enough to warrant such action. In this way, the early alert system arguably has the potential to do more harm than good.

The systems in place at the University of Calgary and McGill are most effective in approaching academic struggles and should be used primarily to address such concerns. From this, broader issues in the background of a student’s life may well be addressed, but any attempt to explicitly tackle mental well-being outside the classroom through an unexpected email carries too many risks. If professors shoot for the concrete academic issues right in front of them, then they will likely get the student to address not only these, but other challenges too.

 

Elijah Wenzel is a U2 Philosophy student at McGill.

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 
Montreal, News

Mayoral election pits upstart challenger against veteran incumbent

by Fionn Adamian on

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The Montreal mayoral election on Nov. 5 presents a choice between incumbent Denis Coderre of Équipe Coderre and Valérie Plante of Projet Montreal. Though most pundits predicted at the beginning of the year that Coderre would easily secure reelection, the most recent poll put him and Plante in a dead heat.

The election stakes an incumbent who stresses that his administration has restored vibrancy to a city marred by corruption against a challenger who promises more transparent and egalitarian policy-making. When voters head to the polls to elect a mayor—alongside borough mayors, city councillors, and borough councillors—they will be choosing between two paths for Montreal. While Coderre has assured voters continued progress in the same direction, Plante has demanded stronger accountability to residents, improved transportation, and cheaper housing.

Accountability

Having served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Bourrassa riding since 1997, Coderre won the 2013 mayoral election and inherited a city hall tarnished by private dealings of previous administrations. The previously elected mayor Gérald Tremblay resigned after a corruption investigation suggested ties between his administration and the mafia. The police arrested Tremblay’s interim successor, Michael Applebaum, only months later for fraud.

Équipe Coderre officials argue that the mayor has eradicated fraudulent dealings while also revitalizing the city’s economy. Over the course of his tenure, Coderre created the post of inspector general to investigate collusion between private businesses and public officials, solicited private construction investment, and successfully lobbied the Quebec National Assembly to assign the city metropolitan status, a designation which loosens provincial restrictions on how Montreal spends its money. Daniel Loureiro, Équipe Coderre city councillor candidate for the Jeanne-Mance district, pointed to Montreal’s falling unemployment rate as evidence of the mayor’s success.

“Over the last four years, Montreal has become proud again,” Loureiro said. “I see people happy when they go around the world and say they're from Montreal.”

Perhaps no clash better encapsulates the topic of transparency than the candidates’ debate over the city’s 375th anniversary. Coderre contends that the celebrations energized city residents, cultivated a sense of belonging, and spurred infrastructure renovations that the city needed to make anyways. Plante vehemently disputes Coderre’s account, asserting that the mayor spent millions of dollars on gaudy projects such as the light show on the Jacques Cartier Bridge. To Plante’s officials, the waste reflects the administration's failure to consult residents over expenditures.

“[Coderre’s government] seems like an administration that's running on flashy issues instead of investing that money into improving the lives of everyday Montrealers,” Kiana Saint-Macary, a Projet Montreal volunteer, said.  

Critics of Coderre’s administration argue that the pace of Coderre’s reforms has been sluggish. Niall Clapham-Ricardo, Projet Montreal co-campaign manager for the Côte-des-Neiges district, noted that the mayor has failed to disclose many city contracts, scheduled meetings, and the cost of the Formula-E race, which struggled to sell tickets. He added that Plante would endeavour to publicize the agenda of the mayor’s office to improve engagement with residents.

“When you're going from zero to five on a scale of zero to a hundred, you could say that's an improvement, but the last administration was the worst in terms of transparency,” Clapham-Ricardo said. “We need to make more meaningful public consultations.”

Transportation

Plante, who currently serves as a Ville-Marie city councillor, won the Projet Montreal leadership race three years ago in part because of her proposal to construct the Pink Metro Line, a project that has captured the attention of many voters.

The new metro would run diagonally from Montreal-Nord to Lachine, crossing through the Plateau Mont-Royal. Projet Montreal officials contend that the line would link low-income neighborhoods to the Downtown area, making it easier for residents of northern Montreal to commute to jobs across the city. According to their estimates, riding the Pink Line from Montreal-Nord to Centre-Ville would take 22 minutes compared to 45 minutes by car and an hour by bus.

“Montreal-Nord is chronically under-supplied in terms of public transportation, and it’s a very low-income, racialized area,” Saint-Macary said. “The Pink Line will give metro access to an entire region of Montreal that doesn’t have it.”

The project’s proponents add that it would alleviate traffic by providing another transportation option for the population-dense Plateau neighbourhood. Jabiz Sharifian, Projet Montreal city councillor candidate for the Peter-McGill district, observed that the new line would make it easier to take the crowded Orange Line or drive on the highway.

“It’ll reduce congestion in the city simply because 70 per cent of residents from northern Montreal that come Downtown have to take their car,” Sharifian said.

Although Plante estimates that building and operating the line would cost $5.9 billion, she has assured voters that the Pink Line’s construction would not affect the city’s long-term plan to extend the Blue Line northeast of Saint-Michel to Anjou. To fund the construction, she intends to appeal to the federal infrastructure bank, the federal public transit infrastructure fund, and the provincial infrastructure fund.

However, Coderre has characterized the appraisal as woefully unrealistic, claiming that building one metro station costs about $300 million, an estimate that puts the Pink Line’s cost nearer to $10 billion. Instead, Coderre has identified the Blue Line extension and the construction of the Réseau électrique métropolitain (REM) train as his transportation priorities. The REM, which has secured funding from a mixture of federal, provincial and local funds, would connect the airport with the McGill and Édouard-Montpetit metro stations.

“Right now, it takes 45 minutes to get to the airport, but it’s going to get much shorter,” Cathy Wong, Équipe Coderre city councillor candidate for the Peter-McGill district, said. “And Mayor Coderre has worked so hard to secure that funding from the Caisse du Quebec.”

Housing

The candidates have reached closer consensus on the need to construct more affordable housing units amid rising real estate prices. The Inclusionary Housing Strategy, which became a centerpiece of Montreal’s affordable housing policy in 2005, outlines that new large residential developments should allot 30 per cent of their units for affordable housing. In practice, developers rarely follow the guideline because the city can only offer exemptions from building regulations to incentivize their cooperation.

Équipe Coderre officials emphasized that the Status of Metropolis bill passed by the Quebec National Assembly in September will enable the mayor to better administer the housing strategy. This law permits greater flexibility in how Montreal spends provincial funds and allows for binding contracts between the city and developers, meaning that officials can now enforce the affordable units threshold more stringently.

“With the Status of Metropolis, we will have more power to say that if developers aren't able to build affordable housing that we make sure that they do so,” Wong said.

Plante claims that Coderre’s attention to affordable housing during the election cycle doesn’t reflect his administration’s performance over the past four years. Projet Montreal officials reckon that the city needs to take more emphatic action and have pledged to raise the requirement to 40 per cent of units in an effort to accommodate students and low-income residents.

“The price of housing, especially for McGill, [is] really high for students and we understand that,” Sharifian said. “For the last 10 years, less than two per cent of all developments in Montreal have been affordable. We're hoping to change that.”

Candidates from both parties will spend the remaining days before Nov. 5 trying to sway undecided voters, who comprise 21 per cent of the electorate. In a close election, their decisions could make the difference.

“We have to make sure that people turn out to vote,” Sharifian said. “There are two different paths for the residents of Montreal.”

 

The Montreal mayoral election will be held on Sunday, Nov. 5 from 10 am to 8 pm. To check your eligibility and polling station, click here.

News

Senate reports record-breaking philanthropic achievements

by Jesse Wu on

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At the Oct. 26 McGill Senate meeting, representatives from the McGill office for University Advancement (UA) gave a report on highlights from the 2017 fiscal year (FY17). Senate also made plans to recognize McGill’s 200-year anniversary with the Road to 200 project, launching in 2019, and reviewed the revision of Charter of Students' Rights and the report from the Board of Governors (BoG).

 

Presentation of FY17 and Road to 200

Vice-Principal (University Advancement) Marc Weinstein commended the UA’s collective effort to engage alumni and raise funds for the university. During FY17—which ran from May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017—UA received a total of $170 million in cash and donation pledges. Among these donations, the largest gifts to McGill were used to found various schools, including the new School of Retail Management and the Max Bell School of Public Policy, from a $25 million donation from Aldo Bensadoun, founder of the Aldo Group, and a $10 million donation from the Max Bell Foundation, respectively.

“We’ve landed some very significant gifts and had our best cash year [with] all of our best achievements ever in the history of University Advancement,” Weinstein said. “Many deans and academic development officers who worked with UA have really galvanized their efforts to [ensure last year’s success].”

McGill's most recent fundraising campaign, History in the Making, ran from 2005 to 2013 and raised $1.026 billion over the nine years. To surpass this amount in the upcoming celebration of McGill’s bicentennial, Road to 200, Weinstein is testing a potential target of $1.5 billion. He emphasized the importance of capitalizing on McGill’s diverse alumni cohort, given that alumni gave 65 per cent of FY17 donations and often donated with particular areas of interest in mind, such as libraries or scholarships.

“Our alumni live in different pockets of the world and [therefore] our challenge, and our opportunity at the same time, is how to make sure that we connect with our alumni,” Weinstein said. “We clearly need ambassadors. We need champions. We need advocates. We really need [the McGill community] to demonstrate their pride of McGill, to spread the word about the bicentennial, and to [be] creative as this campaign takes shape.”

 

Revision of Charter of Students’ Rights

Before Senate approved the revisions to the Charter of Students’ Rights, Dean of Students Christopher Buddle highlighted a number of new articles in the document, including new definitions such as a "member of the university community" and "university context."  The former term is now defined as anyone holding office under the University Charter and Statutes, appointees and employees of the university, and students. The latter is defined as ‘activities or events organized and supported by the University, whether or not on University properties.’ Some new articles have been added to the revised charter, including Article 31, which gives students the right to recognize and protect their scholarly work, and Article 32, which allows students to resolve disputes through informal means.

The former Articles 4 and 21 concern the rights of student survivors of sexual solicitation by people in positions of power and students charged with a disciplinary offence, respectively. Regarding these two articles, a senator raised the question of their oversimplification in the new charter, to which Buddle answered that the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures and a proposed guiding document would explain these articles in further detail.

“What we’d like to do is to provide a guiding document to go alongside the charter and to clarify some of the [articles],” Buddle said. “A lot of [the simplified information] is procedural and operational with respect to what’s contained already in the Code. The simplified [Charter] would suffice as a foundational charter of rights.”

 

Report on Board of Governors  

According to the report on the Board of Governors, written by representative Tina Hobday, McGill’s top governing body re-appointed Suzanne Fortier as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the university until June 2023 and Marc Weinstein as Vice-Principal (University Advancement) until June 2024.

The Board also approved a number of construction projects and renovation contracts for campus buildings, including the Elizabeth Wirth Music Building, Stewart Biology Building, Macdonald Stewart Library, Lyman Duff Complex, and Rutherford Physics Building.

“There’s going to be a lot more construction,” Hobday said. “[However,] it will end and [the campus] will be beautiful.”

The next Senate meeting will be held on Nov. 23.

 

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that McGill received $296 million in cash and donation pledges with 95 per cent of donations coming from alumni. In fact, McGill received $170 million in cash and donation pledges with 65 per cent coming from alumni. The Tribune regrets these errors.
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