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Arts & Entertainment, Music

From the viewpoint: Arkells, Morning Report Tour

by Natalia Malinowski on

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After scoring Metropolis, one of the most renowned musical venues in Montreal, Arkells definitely put on a show. Their Saturday Feb. 18 set was perplexing: A stark contrast between raw Canadian-born talent adored for their lyrics and zest, and choreographed dance moves that were the epitome of cringe-worthy. Witnessing this duality in the performance was like riding an emotional rollercoaster through the hour and a half set list. 

Originally from Hamilton Ontario, the five members of Arkells caught their big break in 2011 with the release of their most acclaimed album, Michigan Left. They’ve made their way to the top of Canadian alternative rock music, winning four Junos and a gold record. Their music is known for pop hooks with rock n’ roll roots—making their songs almost immediate classics. 

On Saturday night, Arkells certainly performed—in every sense of the word. Starting with “A Little Rain (A Song for Pete),” Max Kerman’s impeccable vocals set the bar high for the crowd. Then came the choreographed dance moves—the five band members moved up and down the stage in horrific unison, giving me flashbacks to my sixth grade talent show. It appeared as though the band was afraid that their music wouldn’t be enough, and were making an obvious effort to keep the crowd entertained. 

Soon after, they switched their attention back to the music. Their well-known song, “Passenger’s Seat,” sent vibrations that reset their momentum and had the audience swaying left to right, completely lost in the song. Smashing “11:11” out of the park, the great acoustics provided by the venue allowed the music to resonate throughout the crowd.  However, they fell back on clearly rehearsed jokes, a proposal on stage, and even a small karaoke stint by the opener Frank Turner. Arkells undoubtedly have chemistry, yet their delivery felt somewhat forced.

As the end of the concert neared, my faith in the concert was restored. The entire crowd was grinning and dancing, reciting the well-known words to tunes like “Whistleblower” and “Leather Jacket.” Everyone was feeding off each other’s energy and excitement, reflecting the liveliness of the band. 

Leaving the concert left me confused as to where the band is headed. Perhaps they are looking to become the kind of big act that sells out the Bell Centre, putting on shows with back-up dancers and confetti falling from the ceiling. Or, maybe, they are they still in an awkward, intermediate stage between being “big” enough to play at the Metropolis in Montreal and fearing that the large crowd will not enjoy themselves. 

Arkells needs to realize that their musical talent is strong enough to entertain crowds. They have such a active Canadian community of music lovers supporting them; Metropolis was filled with people there to listen and connect with the music, not to see high leg kicks and tacky dance moves. Here’s to hoping that Arkells drop the act and focus on their music.   

Science & Technology

Systemic racial discrimination of indigenous children in Canadian public policy

by Kate Lord on

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“What if 165,000 children were told by a government that they were going to get less education, less health, less child welfare, and less [access to] clean water […] because of their race?” Dr. Cindy Blackstock, of the Gitksan First Nation, asked in her keynote address at the third annual McGill Nurses for Global Health Conference on Indigenous Health on Feb. 10. “How many of you would be out marching in the streets against […] racial discrimination against children? It’s happening right now by the Canadian government. It has been going on since confederation, and […] we have been trained our entire lives to look away.”

Blackstock, a social worker with 25 years of experience in child protection and indigenous children’s rights, has spent her career fighting for culturally-based equity for the indigenous peoples of Canada and holding the government accountable for racial discrimination. She joined McGill as a professor in the School of Social Work in August 2016. She advocated for a call to action among academics and the general public in the audience.

“I believed if we documented the inequalities, if we documented the harms to kids, that we could work with the government to create evidence-based and economically-tested solutions, and the government of Canada would do the right thing,” Blackstock said. “We did that in 2000 [when] we found the shortfall in social welfare to be 78 cents on the dollar. So if you’re a First Nations child, even if you have higher needs because of the residential schools, you’re getting less funding to stay safely in your families [….] We provided 17 recommendations for reform and Canada acted on none of them.”

With little apparent action from the federal government despite numerous reports since the early 2000s, the Assembly of First Nations and the Family Caring Society, for which Blackstock serves as the Executive Director, filed a human rights case against the Canadian government in 2007.

“We alleged that Canada’s refusal to provide equitable child welfare care and its refusal to ensure that First Nations children can access public services on the same grounds that other children can, amounts to racial discrimination,” Blackstock said.

Over the next eight years, the Canadian government tried to get the case dismissed on legal technicalities, Blackstock explained. Finally, the case went to trial in front of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2013.

“The tribunal [issued] a decision in January of last year, finding Canada is racially discriminating against 165,000 children and ordered it to stop immediately [.…] And what did the Canadian government do? Not very much,” Blackstock said. “It has been since subject to two failure to comply orders by the tribunal and there is another set of hearings on failing to comply in March.”

In just one example of the inequities faced by indigenous peoples in the health care system, Blackstock described that Ontario pays for mental health services for at-risk children. However, this funding is not provided to indigenous children, meaning the children most at-risk are denied this service.

“So when the tribunal’s ruling came down in January, [the Canadian government officials] were to immediately provide that service if they complied with the order,” Blackstock said. “But, they didn’t.”

Despite her evident frustration with the Canadian government’s continual lack of meaningful action towards such a devastating issue, Blackstock expressed her optimism for the future.

“My biggest hope is with the country’s children,” Blackstock said. “In the tribunal, […] the first group to come was actually a group of high school students [.…] They stayed the whole two days, and then they come back to the next set of hearings with other friends [.…] By 2012, there are so many kids coming to the case that we had to book them in shifts. So, please join me in giving this country the best 150th birthday present we can give it: A generation of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children who never have to recover from their childhoods. And a generation of non-Aboriginal kids who never have to say they’re sorry.”

Private, Student Life

The finstagram phenomenon: A peek into the private

by Grace Bahler on

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Commonly referred to as ‘finstagram,’ or ‘finsta,’ the ‘Fake Instagram’ phenomenon is on the rise. A rather curious oxymoron, the trend is taking over the popular and ever-evolving Instagram app.   

Over the past decade, the world has witnessed a digital boom, revolutionizing how—and what—people share. Within seconds, social media users can broadcast their new job promotion or upcoming travel plans to  hundreds of followers and ‘friends.’ Social media has given individuals control over how others perceive their lives. 

Users tend to post about their high moments and none of their lows, effusing an image of perfection. This tendency to share only the happiest moments of one’s life manifests itself more so on Instagram—currently the top photo-sharing application—than on other platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter. Of the millions of user accounts, most contain photos of friends, family, smiling people, and happy memories—a testament to the constant projection of perfection. 

According to Urban Dictionary, finstagram stands for “a mixture of fake & Instagram.” In practice, the way some McGill students use their extra—and extra-goofy—accounts conveys a sense of realness and humanness that their official profiles do not. 

Hana Geadah, U1 Arts & Science, is among the many students who have a finstagram—except unlike most others, she has two. Her “mainstream” finsta, as she calls it, is the classic personal account filled with photos she deems to be as too intimate or too ugly for her official Instagram page. But her second account takes an altered, offbeat approach—it is dedicated to her hookups. 

Geadah made her hookup finsta in May 2016, inspired by a friend of a friend. Only close friends who she approves can follow this private account. She has her own protocol for posting on this account, too. A photo and short bio accompany every hookup, briefly describing the individual and the encounter. And if she happens to come into contact with that person again, Geadah turns to Instagram’s story feature to keep her followers informed with a photo of the person, as well as a status-update. 

“I like it because I can just be really sassy about the people who I hook up with,” Geadah said, with a laugh. “And, it’s also good because basically my best friends who follow the account can just see, and if they want to talk to me about it they can.”  

On a platform as vast and revealing as Instagram, the posting of one’s private life seems counter-intuitive. But through her second finsta, Geadah is breaking many stigmas surrounding sex, being a woman, and being queer. 

“I feel like there’s a stigma or a shame about ‘look at all these people I hookup with,’ [more so] as a girl, especially as a queer girl,” Geadah said. “I remember when I had a girlfriend, I felt super self-conscious about posting on my real Instagram, pictures with her.” 

Geadah’s use of her finsta as a platform of real and unrestrained expression defies the ways in which individuals control their image on social media. The finstagram trend isn’t restricted to the typical self-management of one’s account; the possibilities for creativity and expression are endless. 

Jamie Woods* and Emma Buscher*, both U1 Arts, also employ this creative use of finstagram. Best friends and avid finsta users, their take on the trend is unique: They run each other’s accounts. Woods created Buscher’s account originally as a birthday joke, but it’s still active months later. For the pair, running each other’s finstas means letting go of the constant need to micro-manage one’s image. It’s also a telling sign of trust in one another. 

“I really like finstas because I feel there’s just this kind of togetherness and community about the way we run them,” Buscher said. “[…] Even though it’s run by someone else, you can trust them, and I think that’s really important.” 

The two friends often post embarrassing selfies of each other, and fun selfie submissions from their followers. They also strive to promote self-care amid academic stress. Woods and Buscher know each others’ midterm and exam schedules, and aim to post kind words for each other to see. 

“Every single time one or the other [have] a test coming up, [we] always post an encouraging post, like, ‘Look at them go,’” Buscher said. 

Having control of each other’s finsta accounts is an essential counter to the social pressure to have everything seem perfect on their official Instagram accounts. 

“It’s definitely a paradox,” Woods said. “[…] Your finsta is supposed to be your fake-self, but it’s really your actual self versus the rinsta, which is more how you want people to perceive you on a social level [….] We derive so much of our self-worth in how people perceive us on social media.”

The rise of finstas is a large collective statement on social media; it is a rebuke of the constant management of image, a challenged to the need to portray perfection. Rarely will one find posts about a failed exam or a panic attack, but these accounts are moving in the direction of normalizing the imperfections that everyone has, but rarely shows.

*Names have been changed at the request of the source.

Editorial, Opinion, Private

McGill administration must support the independence of student societies

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Feb. 17, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Executive Committee released a statement requesting the resignation of Igor Sadikov from his positions as a director and as an Arts representative to the SSMU Legislative Council. The request comes after Sadikov tweeted “punch a zionist [sic] today,” which the SSMU executives deemed “an incitement of violence” in violation of the Standard of Care outlined in the SSMU Constitution. The Feb. 17 statement came two days after a meeting between the SSMU executives and McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier, during which Fortier claims she shared her “strong belief” that SSMU should call on Sadikov to resign.

This meeting between Fortier and SSMU executives calls the relationship between student governance bodies and the university administration into question. The administration is justified in wanting to respond to the current situation; however, the administration must take care that the manner in which it exercises its authority does not undermine the independence of SSMU. Recent events demonstrate how susceptible student societies may be to pressure from the administration.

Under Quebec law, SSMU is a corporation independent from McGill, run by its 10-member Board of Directors (BoD). The relationship between SSMU and McGill is determined by a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) that guarantees SSMU’s independence from McGill. However, McGill can declare SSMU to have defaulted on the MoA if it judges that the society violated its own constitution.

Maintaining SSMU’s operational independence from the university is crucial—while McGill must balance the interests of many groups, SSMU is the only body on campus that exists solely to represent the interests of students. The society remains the most accessible governing body to students; if its independence is violated, students lose their most direct means to affect change at the upper levels of the university’s administration.

The McGill administration’s desire to intervene in the Sadikov affair is understandable: It must ensure the safety of its students after an incitement to violence, while maintaining its image in the face of a media storm in response to the tweet.

The society remains the most accessible governing body to students; if its independence is violated, students lose their most direct means to affect change at the upper levels of the university’s administration.

In order to avoid even the appearance of compromising SSMU’s autonomy, McGill must ensure that it engages with SSMU transparently. McGill can express its concern over SSMU and the decisions of its BoD, but it must ultimately respect that it does not decide who sits on SSMU Council—students do. Secret meetings with SSMU executives give the appearance that the administration is meddling in student governance. Even if the meeting is not coercive, the opacity of the process damages the image of both parties. Fortier’s justification that the Sadikov case is an “exceptional” circumstance is also worrisome, as this condition seems to have been unilaterally defined by the administration, and could be used to justify interventions in the future.

The administration must also ensure its actions do not preempt the student governance process. When a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) motion was passed at the Winter 2016 General Assembly, Fortier waited until the motion had been defeated in online ratification to express the administration’s stance on BDS. In her statement, which condemned BDS, Fortier noted, “The University as an institution has not commented publicly until now out of respect for the student governance process.” This standard of respect should apply equally to the current case—the student governance process is still ongoing, as the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) will vote on Sadikov’s impeachment on Feb 22.

The administration’s actions reflect a failure on SSMU’s part as well. To the administration, and to many students, the SSMU BoD failed its constituents by choosing not to impeach Sadikov, revealing the need for means of additional recourse within SSMU.The Judicial Board has been able to fill this role in past cases, but it does not have the authority to overturn BoD decisions. If a minority of students ever feel that they have been wronged—and especially they have been made to feel less safe—by a SSMU decision, channels for recourse must be fair and accessible.

In the meantime, the administration must make it clear that its role in this matter was not coercive. Further, it must clarify what it defines as “exceptional” so that it may be held accountable to this standard in future instances. SSMU’s representative autonomy is meaningless unless it is clear that it is able to make decisions with which the administration does not agree.

 

 

Lauren Benson-Armer, Aaron Rose, Clare Lyle, Joe Khammar, David Watson, and Natalie Vineberg believe that the McGill administration is justified in intervening with student governance if the student governance process fails to rectify extreme circumstances, such as cases of incited violence.

 

@McGillTribOp | [email protected]

 

 

 

 
Science & Technology

Study shows correlation between heavy snowfall and heart attacks

by Angelina Giordano on

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Shovelling snow is a winter chore generally met with dread. But, as Dr. Nathalie Auger and her team at the Quebec Public Health Institute recently showed in a study published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Feb. 13, there may be real health risks involved.

Auger’s study hits home for a lot of Canadians, especially in Quebec, for whom snow is a huge part of everyday life.

The study was designed to discover if, during the winter months of November through April from the years 1981-2014, the amount of hospital admissions or deaths due to myocardial infarction (MI)—known colloquially as heart attack—increased as a result of heavy snowfall in Quebec. Auger’s team collected thousands of medical records and then analyzed the data to find out whether or not their hypothesis held.

The study was designed to collect measures of the quantity of the snowfall in centimetres and the duration of the snowfall in hours. These results were adjusted for minimum daily temperatures. The study then tested to see whether or not the risk of MI was highest the day of the snowfall, the day after, or two days or three days after the snow fall.

In the end, the temperature didn’t play a role in increasing or decreasing the risk of MI. So, what did?

Auger and her team theorized that the cardiovascular energy involved with shovelling plays a significant role.

“[Shovelling requires] more than 75 per cent of the maximum heart rate,” Auger explained.

The excess stress puts people with existing heart problems at risk.

Out of the 128,073 individual hospital admissions and the 68,155 deaths due to MI during the months from November through April, the probability of a heart attack among men dramatically increased the closer the day was to a snowfall, but this association was not noticeably among women.

Ten per cent of all heart problems occurred when there were more than five centimetres of snow on the ground. Sixty per cent of all hospital admissions and deaths involved men while thirty-three per cent of all heart attacks occurred the day immediately after snowfall.

Auger explained that she was still unsure as to exactly why men are at higher risk after a snowfall than women. Her team can only speculate that it may be because men shovel more snow than women, or that, perhaps, women have mastered a technique of shovelling that causes less strain to their hearts.

This correlation may become increasingly prevalent as extreme weather events, such as heavy snowfalls become more frequent.

Auger explained that the study has already received a lot of attention.

“Certainly it’s always good [and] interesting when our research generates news,” Auger said.

The main takeaway for the average person is to use caution after heavy snowfalls and try to avoid shovelling if you know that you have a high risk of MI issues.

Montreal, News

AVEQ says that projected budget deficit was overestimated

by Cherry Ng on

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The Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ) is a provincial-level student association designed to represent Quebec university students. It serves as a way to increase bargaining power provincially and with universities. It has recently publicly released its 2016-2017 budget, projecting that the association will record a revenue of $228,690 and run a $73,597 deficit. Their cash holdings are estimated to fall 70 per cent this year. Currently, AVEQ’s largest expenses include staff and executive salaries–which run between $61,118 and $77,599–administrative costs, and their mobilization and associative development budget. Other large expenses include $10,000 to $12,000 in accounting and legal fees.

AVEQ is a provincial-level student association designed to represent Quebec university students. It was formed after the Fédération Étudiante Universitaire du Quebec (FÉUQ) fell apart in the spring of 2015. The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) was one of the founding members of the FÉUQ in 1989, but affiliated and unaffiliated three times before permanently ending their membership in Fall 2006. As for the FÉUQ’s successor, SSMU has continued to consider affiliation with AVEQ since its creation in 2015.

Affiliation with AVEQ was put forward at the SSMU Winter 2016 referendum, which would have involved a non-opt-outable fee of $3.50 per semester. Though the referendum failed, SSMU remains an observer at AVEQ meetings. Ten to 11 other university associations are currently observing at the AVEQ meetings. In addition, Université du Quebec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) will propose a referendum to affiliate in Winter 2017 and the Université du Quebec à Trois-Rivieres (UQTR) will run one in Fall 2017.

AVEQ is financed by student fees, with its only sources of revenue currently being Concordia Student Union (CSU) and the Université du Québec à Rimouski’s student association (AGECAR) student fees. Given the nature of student fees, Stethem wrote that the organization’s projected deficit for next year was an overestimation.

“On the revenue side, the exact number of students who will be paying fees can be difficult to estimate, particularly in a first full year of operation,” Stetham wrote. “Notably, we did not have a clear picture of numbers and specifics for summer students, which is the main factor contributing to extra revenues in the order of $30,000-$40,000.”

AVEQ Advisor to the Executive Isaac Stetham explained that the organization’s expenses have increased between 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 because AVEQ was not in operation until the final four months of the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

“The previous year, we had an interim team of five part-time staff working from the end of January,” Stetham wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “This year, we have three full-time executive positions filled, a full-time staff position, plus additional part-time staff [….] We now have a number of research projects, more travel for meetings and government representation, more material being produced, events organized, and so forth.”

The organization will reduce its expenditure if it runs into a deficit next year, but Stetham wrote that it is unlikely that it will have to do so.

“Depending on how things go over the next two and a half months, we should either significantly cut, or altogether eliminate the deficit that was projected in the budget,” Stetham wrote. “[…] Our hope is that a combination of more accurate budgeting of the [accounting and legal fees], and a potential increase in revenue from new member associations, will enable us to, at the very least, maintain our current level of operations while avoiding a deficit.”

SSMU Vice-President (VP) External Affairs David Aird maintained that AVEQ is financially stable.

“[AVEQ’s deficit] is not concerning because of the projected revenues in the future,” Aird said. “[….] The deficit will vanish if we [affiliate]. And even if McGill doesn’t join, AVEQ will be fine.”  

CSU External Affairs and Mobilization Coordinator Aloyse Muller reports that Concordia’s affiliation with AVEQ has proven beneficial to the student body.

“We are very satisfied with how the culture of decision-making has proven very efficient and open and transparent,” Muller said. “At Concordia, we had to face a tuition hike on international students and so we fought [against] that with the help of AVEQ.”

News, SSMU

SSMU loses approximately $6,000 worth of sheet music

by Margherita de Castro on

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In June 2016, the Vice-Principal (VP) Large Events of the Symphonic Band Club Jerry Xie visited room 428 in the Shatner Building–where the club stored its equipment–only to find $6,000 worth of sheet music missing. The previous month, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) had accidentally misplaced the sheet music when they cleared out all SSMU clubs’ offices in the building. Although the Symphonic Band Club has reached out to SSMU executives numerous times throughout this academic year, the club has yet to receive compensation for the lost property.

Last year’s SSMU VP Clubs and Services Kimber Bialik reallocated SSMU club office space to Student Services and general space that can be booked. In October 2015, Bialik sent notices informing all student clubs to clear their offices before May 2016. The Symphonic Band, however, remained unaware of the plans because Bialik sent the announcement to an older email address.

The Symphonic Band, founded in 2008, had used its office to store instruments, podiums, and scores. Xie found the instruments in subbasement 17, but was not able to recover any of the sheet music. The Band’s music library contained roughly 80 works, each costing $70-90.

Brian Kennish, the SSMU building coordinator, confirmed SSMU’s role in the misplacement of the sheet music.

“Unfortunately, it is very likely that the items that you are referring to were removed and recycled,” Kennish informed the Symphonic Band’s President via email on June 28, 2016. “The porters have followed the mandate to empty certain fourth floor rooms that were needed to be repaired and painted for new tenants.”

The Symphonic Band hosts a concert each semester. Previously, the club would purchase three new pieces and perform these along with three pieces from their archive. The band now has to use the dues it collects from its musicians solely to acquire new music, deferring funds away from subsidizing the rental of musical instruments.

President of the Symphonic Band Jonathan Palozzi explained that this is not a sustainable solution.

“Without music, we are not a club,” Palozzi said. “We need music to play. We cannot buy all new music every semester. It is too expensive and we do not have that much money. Why do we have to forgo our opportunity for funding to fix [SSMU’s] mistake? I don’t think that’s fair.”

In August 2016, Palozzi began negotiating with SSMU’s current executives for a compensation scheme. According to Palozzi, the executives explained that SSMU did not have the money to repay the club for the missing sheet music. Allegedly, the only suggestion they offered at the time was for the club to ask retailer JP Musical Instruments for the music. In October 2016, Palozzi inquired as to whether he could pursue reimbursement via an insurance claim. SSMU VP Finance Niall Carolan told Palozzi that he would discuss the matter with the Security Manager and inform him of any progress. Palozzi has since continuously followed up until February 2017 with sporadic responses from SSMU executives. Requests for comment from SSMU executives were not returned.

“I am very disappointed in SSMU’s actions or lack thereof,” Xie said. “Their negligence gives me the feeling that we as a SSMU group and we as individuals do not matter. It has been seven months since we first discovered this error and the constant lack of information and willingness to help to the best of their ability really showcases the lack of integrity of the executives that represent us students.”

Currently, the Symphonic Club hopes to come up with a reimbursement scheme by contacting SSMU’s insurance broker directly.

Off the Board, Opinion

Is there an upside to the O’Leary candidacy?

by David Watson on

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It’s been an odd political year. As news from the United States continues to descend into absurdity, in Canada the Conservative Party leadership race drudges on, complete with a cast of characters large enough to carry a Marvel movie. The Conservative race came to McGill on Feb. 13, as TV celebrity-turned leadership hopeful Kevin O’Leary held an event on campus where he spoke to students and took questions from the audience.

On the surface, O’Leary’s entry into the race seems like a political disaster for Canada. His rocky business career and arrogant TV-persona antics read like a mirror image of Donald Trump’s—another Trump is the last thing North America, or any other remotely habitable region, needs right now. Despite the glaring flaws with O’Leary’s campaign—his lack of political experience and fluency in French being the main two—there are a few redeeming qualities to his candidacy. It’s a long shot, but O’Leary is bringing a few new ideas to the table that might even end up being beneficial for Canadian democracy in the long-run.

The political landscape has recently been shifting to the right in many Western countries. From the election of Donald Trump in the U.S., to Brexit in the United Kingdom, to the rise of right-wing politicians such as France’s Marine Le Pen and the Front National in Europe, the trend has been towards more regressive, bitter, and inward-looking policies. When Kellie Leitch emerged as an early star in the Conservative race, it seemed like the Canadian right might be headed in the same direction. But since entering the race, O’Leary has quickly eclipsed Leitch in the polls; and his vision for the Conservatives looks nothing like that of a Leitch or a Trump.

Unlike Leitch or Trump, O’Leary has not adopted the anti-immigrant stance that has taken right-wing politics by storm. He touts his own heritage as the son of Irish and Lebanese immigrants as a testament to the value of open societies. “There’s no walls in my world. I wouldn’t exist if Canada had walls,” O’Leary claimed when announcing his candidacy on Jan. 18—a sentiment he reiterated at McGill.

 

Since entering the race, O’Leary has quickly eclipsed Leitch in the polls; and his vision for the Conservatives looks nothing like that of a Leitch or a Trump.

O’Leary’s most interesting contribution to the Conservative race by far has been his liberal stance on social issues. As O’Leary took care to explain to his audience at McGill, his desire to win the support of young voters led him to come out staunchly in favour of reproductive rights, LGBTQI rights, and marijuana legalization. O’Leary’s decision to focus on the young voters is a sound strategy: In the 2015 federal election, turnout in the 18-25 demographic jumped significantly, and favoured the Liberals by 45 per cent, compared to just 20 per cent for the Conservatives.

Strategy aside, O’Leary’s liberal positions on these issues should mean good news for young Canadians. If the Conservative Party liberalizes its stance on these issues, it could present itself as a more viable alternative to young, socially-liberal Canadians, meaning these voters will have a more appealing array of parties to choose from on election day. Young voters who might otherwise dismiss the Conservative Party out of hand for their outdated social values would instead be faced with three viable options—the Liberals, Conservatives, and the NDP—the next time they vote. With more options, young voters would be able to demand more from each party in return for their support, and debates could focus on other pressing issues, like the economy, environmental policy, or foreign policy.

Ideally, this realignment of the Conservative Party on social issues could happen without ceding control of the party to a political novice like O’Leary. Fellow leadership candidate Michael Chong has also expressed progressive views on these issues, and comes without the lack of political experience or French that mars O’Leary’s campaign. Whatever the result of O’Leary’s leadership bid, young Canadians should hope to see these select few of his ideas incorporated into the Conservative Party platform going forward.

Of course, there is no guarantee that an eventual O’Leary election platform would look anything like the promises he made to an audience of students in the opening month of his campaign for the party nomination. But at a time when populist candidates in other countries are dragging their politics further to the right, Canadians can at least be thankful that our reality-show candidate seems intend on taking his party in a more moderate direction.

 

 

David Watson is an Opinion Editor at The McGill Tribune and a U3 Political Science and History student. He is a (very) minor league hockey player, and likes eating entire boxes of Kraft Dinner in a single sitting.

 

@McGillTribOp |

 

Laughing Matters, Opinion

Montreal must unite in the noble cause for winter cycling

by Anthony Kuan on

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Montreal has recently become the battleground of a grand, revolutionary conflict: The winter cyclists’ struggle to cross the Jacques Cartier Bridge in the face of oppressive civil authorities. The city exercised a tyrannical measure when it resolved to close the bicycle path of the Jacques Cartier Bridge for the winter. This decision has left scars on the unassuming hearts of winter cycling enthusiasts, while depriving us all of an indispensable means of transportation.

But in this vast discontent, there has arisen a solemn hope, a glowing flame in the shade of repression: The Collectif Transport Rive Sud. This valiant group of winter cycling activists has assembled on behalf of all the city’s cyclists to defy the seasonal despotism that has shaken our consciousness. Resisting the fetters of law and society, these brave citizens have embarked on an epic campaign to personally shovel the snow off the bridge in order to cycle to their heart’s content. The dedication of these heroes must inspire us to action.

As the city streets become flooded by the wet and icy dregs of blackened snow, the bicycle becomes the only feasible means of transport. A bicycle can move with no greater speed than when navigating murky puddles and icy asphalt. Upon intense deliberation of the matter, it is clear that there is no car, no bus, nor train that can commute in a snowstorm with the same comfort as a bicycle. In closing the Jacques Cartier Bridge’s cycling lanes, the city is deliberately opposing these most fundamental premises.

Although Montreal permits bikes to travel in the middle of St-André and Mentana streets, the fundamental right to cycle from through the winter is not guaranteed city-wide. Yet Montreal has the temerity to claim itself as a world leader for winter cycling, having hosted the prestigious 2017 Winter Cycling Congress on Feb. 8. So long as the Collectif Transport Rive Sud has to battle authorities for winter bridge access and reforms from the city remain pitifully modest, the city will never become the cycling utopia it claims to be.

 

We shall bike on the ice, we shall bike on the snow, we shall bike on the mud and in the puddles—and we shall never surrender.

Much more work remains to advance the winter cycling cause, both by Montreal and by cyclists themselves. As a preliminary step, all police manpower should be redirected to winter cycling maintenance. The city is spending millions of dollars to pay the police to direct street traffic—it should really be spending millions of dollars to pay the police to shovel the Jacques Cartier Bridge. And of course, Montreal should pay a large indemnity to the winter cyclists it has hitherto impeded, if it wishes to demonstrate its sincere remorse.

Further, it is an outrage that only 10 per cent of summer cyclists continue to cycle in the winter: The winter cycling movement calls for Montreal residents travel exclusively by bicycle. To forward this measure, movement by car, train, and foot must be universally proscribed from November to March; bicycles must be our only means of winter transportation. These recommendations are admittedly modest, but this is perhaps the greatest urban winter sport-related challenge of our time—progress must be gradual.

Montréal has callously exploited the patience of winter cyclists in the city, and improvements do not appear to be forthcoming. Closing the Jacques Cartier Bridge’s cycling lanes and penalizing the few civilians who have confronted these fundamental violations of human dignity represent the moral bankruptcy of this city and its administration. The public must unequivocally engage with the Collectif Transport Rive Sud and its allies if we ever want to grip our handlebars with pride. We shall bike on the ice, we shall bike on the snow, we shall bike on the mud and in the puddles—and we shall never surrender.

 

 

 

Anthony Kuan

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 
Hockey, Know Your Athlete, Men's Varsity, Sports

Redmen help Canada take bronze at FISU Winter University Games

by Arman Bery on

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When one thinks of the ideal venue for the International University Sports Federation (FISU) 2017 Winter University Games, Kazakhstan probably isn’t the hockey mecca that comes to mind. However, for McGill Redmen Hockey centre Mathieu Pompei and defenceman Nathan Chiarlitti, the opportunity to head to the Kazakh city of Almaty to represent Canadian universities was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I was honestly just super excited,” Chiarlitti said. “It was not only a great opportunity to play with other great university players, but also represent Canada.”

Both seniors are coming to the end of their varsity hockey careers and are looking to soak in as much of these last few games as they can.

“As a fifth-year player, this is probably one of the last times I will have such a special opportunity,” Pompei said.

The two agreed the time spent at the rink with their team was a highlight of the trip. Just missing the finals after a 4-1 semi-finals loss to Russia, the team faced off against the Czech Republic in the bronze medal game on Feb. 8.

“[…There] was no way we were leaving that game without a medal after we lost to Russia,” Chiarlitti said. “Unfortunately, I had to miss the game due to injury, but it was still super fun cheering from the sidelines.”

In the bronze medal game, Team Canada jumped ahead early against the Czechs, clinching third place with a 4-3 victory.

“The feeling was pretty surreal getting the medal,” Pompei said. “We truly put our everything into this tournament […] to make sure we accomplished our goal.”

The team had just one practice, hours before heading out to Kazakhstan, the team had to bond on the fly. Chemistry formed through years of practice and games needed to be emulated in only hours. The team’s only practice was at York University before the tournament and was a crucial time for the players to mingle and become comfortable with each other.

Because the team had little-to-no time to develop relationships before leaving, they became friends by exploring the area in and around the athletic village in Almaty. Through these interactions, the team grew together and players even made friends on other teams.

“Being around a bunch of great athletes from around the world was an amazing experience,” Pompei said.

However, both Redmen were amongst the five players chosen to briefly head into the town to interact with locals.

“We actually got to go play with some of the local kids of the community at the closest ice rink,” Chiarlitti said.

Travelling through the city, both were surprised by the mayhem on the Kazakh streets.

“The driving was kinda weird,” Chiarlitti said. “There would be lines […] on the road, but people would just be driving on the lines, ignoring lanes, and making new lanes.”

Outside of the city centre, the team had lunch in the scenic Trans-Ili Alatau mountains.

“One day we did go up to the ski hills,” Chiralitti said. “It was super picturesque up in the middle of the mountains.”

Reflecting on Pompei and Chiarlitti’s two and a half weeks abroad, the gratitude for their family and friends back home was as strong as ever.

“You know, honestly I was just so excited to get home and share my medal with everyone,” said Pompei. “Being able to share this accomplishment with everyone that helped me to get where I am today is truly a special feeling.”

With the Redmen in the midst of a playoff push, the two have had to adjust quickly to the 11-hour time difference since returning back to Canada.

“I know I am going to feel it once the season is over, but physically, I feel totally ready to chase a championship,” Pompei said. “Mentally, I am as focused as ever.”

McGill takes on UQTR at home in the first game of a best two out of three OUA East Semifinals on Feb 22.

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