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McGill, News

Kevin O’Leary speaks at McGill

by Calvin Trottier-Chi on

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Candidate for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada Kevin O’Leary came to McGill University on Feb. 13. He elaborated on his platform for jobs and social inclusivity in an exclusive interview with The McGill Tribune, as well as in a speech at the Shatner Building.  

Of foremost importance to O’Leary is the economy. He was particularly critical of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, which has fallen below three per cent, and felt that Canada has the capacity to improve.

“We have to start thinking about making this country competitive with the rest of the world because Canada is the richest country on earth in terms of resources, and water, and minerals, and timber, and energy,” O’Leary said. “In order to maintain the contract that we have as Canadians with each other, including funding the arts and all the social programs [which] support the poor and immigrants that need to get started here, we either grow at three per cent or you are going to be living in a deficit for 38 years.”

O’Leary argued that Canada must open itself to international investment to enjoy economic benefits. Given Donald Trump’s intentions to cut carbon taxes, O’Leary was dismayed that Prime Minister Trudeau has not followed suit to keep Canada competitive.

“If you compare capital flowing around the world, where does it want to rest itself to invest? If your taxes are too high, if your regulatory environment is too punitive, if you have carbon tax when none of your competitors do, capital tends to follow the path of least resistance and goes to other countries, which is what’s happening now. That’s the problem, and we need to get ourselves in synch,” O’Leary said.

Specifically, O’Leary hopes to attract industries from Asia to Canada and to create jobs by developing fracking in Nova Scotia.

O’Leary also emphasized engaging with youth voters, hoping to provide them with prosperous financial futures.      

“My job as Prime Minister is to provide you an environment where you can choose your path and have a high probability of success,” O’Leary said. “[Youth] unemployment rate’s more like 15 per cent, it’s really failed because there’s no growth. These people need jobs.”

After O’Leary’s speech, in which he reiterated the importance of the economy and millennial voters, McGill students in attendance asked for his opinion on a series of topics, including health care, housing, O’Leary’s personal investments, the environment, inclusivity, and comparisons to Trump. O’Leary also spoke about his childhood living around the world while his mother worked for the International Labor Organization.

“There’re two elements of our educational system that are missing: Tolerance for cultures and religion, and also financial literacy,” O’Leary said. “What someone wears, how they want to live their lives, we should accommodate all of that in this country, and I learned that as a child in Cambodia. What headdress was worn in the street did not define who a person was, it was their style, their culture. We have to accommodate that. That ends up being a competitive weapon for this country.”

Another clarification that students sought was distinguishment of O’Leary from Trump. O’Leary referenced the fact that his family immigrated to Canada before he was born.

“If we built a wall around Canada, I wouldn’t exist,” O’Leary said. “I wouldn’t be here. So, I do not agree on many of [Trump’s] policies, he’s dealing with other problems in the U.S. that we don’t have here in Canada. We’re going to have a very inclusive economy, a very inclusive country, I don’t care what your race or religion is, you can come here as I did.”

The event was organized by the Conservative Association of McGill, with the President Adam Wilson, U3 Arts, pleased with the turnout of approximately 300 people. Wilson spoke of O’Leary’s inclusive social direction  being an appealing draw for young voters.

“I think the fact that he cuts through all the social things that people don’t like the conservatives for [will] attract young people,” Wilson said. “I think that some people don’t like conservative fiscal policy, but a lot of people [who do] won’t vote for the conservatives because there are people in the conservative party who are anti-LGBT or anti-choice.”

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Kitsch, tongue-twisters, and true love: McGill’s Savoy Society presents ‘The Pirates of Penzance’

by Niklas Kaemmerer on

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It shames me to admit that before The McGill Savoy Society’s presentation of The Pirates of Penzance, I had never seen a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. Although I was familiar with the general tone and the plot of the operetta, I entered Moyse Hall with an open mind. Upon reading that the Savoy Society director, Roger Andrews, had directed this specific operetta four times—yes, four separate times—I knew I’d be in good hands.

The two-act operetta follows Frederic (Sebastian Comtois), a pirate’s apprentice finally free of his servitude after 21 years of loyal labour. Mistakenly conscripted to the Pirate King’s (Aaron Meredith) boisterous gang at the fragile age of eight, Frederic struggles with choosing between his intense sense of duty towards his adopted family and his love for the Major-General’s (Scott Cope) beautiful daughter, Mabel (Sevan Kochkarian). The resulting conflict between both groups involves exactly the campy sort of tomfoolery one would expect from a Gilbert & Sullivan classic: A chorus of cowardly policemen, a surprisingly haunting interpretive ballet performance from a grown man in a nightgown, and an unfortunate technicality involving leap years.

The operetta truly shone when it embraces its joyful camp and exuberant silliness. From the first act’s introduction of the daughters to the Major-General’s ballet performance, almost every scene was delivered with a wink and a chuckle, reminding the audience that they were in on the joke. 

Perhaps because of the immensely difficult vocal work necessary for the operetta, the Pirates cast shone across the board. In the lead role, Comtois embraced his character’s naïveté and masterfully guided the audience through the plot, providing a stable anchor in a sea of ridiculous characters. It’s clear, however, that Kochkarian’s Mabel was set to be the star of the show; her vocal prowess was repeatedly on display, and she drew the largest applause from the audience over the course of the night. Kochkarian expertly wove her way around the vocal acrobatics integral to the role of Mabel and effortlessly imbued nerve and confidence into the take-charge character. 

The scene-stealers of the show, however, were not the leading couple, but the trio of larger-than-life supporting characters. Cope’s portrayal of the Major-General proved that he was born for the role, perfectly encompassing the man’s influential yet fundamentally silly persona. Cope embraced Gilbert’s tongue-twisting wordplay and delivers every syllable of the infamous “Modern Major General” song with the confidence and skill of a top-tier performer. 

Meredith’s Pirate King bridged the gap between the unnamed pirate gang and the audience, demonstrating that physical comedy is an exceptional talent when done right. Olivia Barnes’ Ruth was also a sight to behold: From the first scene to the last, the audience’s biggest chuckles erupted directly because of Barnes’ knack for lively characterization and outrageous comedy. Even as the scene shifted from her character, my eyes followed her for her outrageous reactions alone. 

Despite the overall strengths of the show, it was not without its weaknesses: The show dragged on occasionally, especially during the slower songs; the choreography shones during group numbers, but was uninspired in duets. The chorus, although wonderful during the first act, clearly felt the fatigue set in as the choreography became unsynchronized, namely during the police line. 

Overall, the show was a thoroughly enjoyable experience as long as one embraced the inherent campiness. From the oddly good-hearted pirates, to the exuberant chorus of sisters, and the cowardly band of policemen, the show was filled to the brim with charisma and quirk. The Savoy Society put on a madly entertaining show definitely worth the trip to Moyse Hall.

Science & Technology

McGill graduate spearheads PornHub’s new sex ed initiative

by Andy Wang on

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Pornhub, the largest online provider of pornography, launched a new initiative website on Feb. 1. Called the Sexual Wellness Center, it is the first sexual education website undertaken by a pornographic website.

“At the Pornhub Sexual Wellness Center, we are fully dedicated to your health and education, and to create a place where information pertaining to the physical, psychological, and even the most intimate aspects of sex is available to all,” Dr. Laurie Betito, 1988 McGill University graduate in psychology and Montreal-based clinical psychologist, explained.

Betito is the creator of Pornhub’s new initiative and the author of the majority of its content. The Sexual Wellness Center also brings in experts to contribute articles about reproductive health, anatomy, and sexually-transmitted infections, including Dr. Zhana Vranglova, an associate professor of psychology at New York University.

Pornhub had an estimated 21.2 billion visits in 2015, which, according to Betito, is an enormous population who the Sexual Wellness Center would be able to reach.

“Pornography, is […] all just fantasy,” Betito said. “But, unfortunately, it is sometimes the only sort of sexual education people receive and if it’s possible that this website could potentially reach millions of people, it would be a step in the right direction.”

The Sexual Wellness Center also encourages visitors to send in questions regarding any aspect of sex. Betito’s latest responses answer questions regarding the female orgasm and male virginity.

“In just a few weeks, we have received hundreds of questions, telling us that the site has already gained some traction,” Betito said.

According to statistics published by the Guttmacher Institute, a U.S. sexual and reproductive health think tank, 76 per cent of public and private U.S. schools taught abstinence as the best method of avoiding pregnancy. Furthermore, 88 per cent of all U.S. schools allowed parents to remove their children from sexual education classes. Instead, the extensive accessibility of pornography influences children’s and young adults’ views on sex, in particular with respect to its physical aspects.

Not everyone agrees that Pornhub’s sex education initiative is decidedly beneficial. Quartz had a more skeptical outlook on the website.

“The ironies of Pornhub’s endeavor, of course, are clear,” Leah Fessler wrote in Quartz. “If any industry has negatively impacted young people’s understanding of healthy sexual behavior, it’s mainstream porn. And if any company epitomizes mainstream porn, it’s Pornhub. [Pornhub’s Sexual Wellness Center’s] site collectively feels like a wash of disconnected, elementary, and at times, even inaccurate information which, without proper context, serves limited educative power.”

It is too early to determine the efficacy of the Sexual Wellness Center as the site only launched a few weeks ago. However, according to Betito, Pornhub releases an annual report on the viewership of its content and this new initiative is very likely to also be included in the statistics.

There are still some technical issues to address as the Sexual Wellness Center is set in motion. From Pornhub’s main site, it is currently impossible to navigate to the Sexual Wellness Center. Betito responded that she is working on resolving the issue and increasing the visibility of the site.

“Pornhub has told me they are working on it,” Betito explained. “We just got started a couple of weeks ago. They will also post some banners to advertise in between the videos.”

Betito also responded to accusations that Pornhub is pursuing sex ed just to get more clicks.

“I want to make it clear that this is not some sort of publicity stunt by Pornhub to attract more people to their site,” Betito said. “They already have enough traffic as it is.”

Aesthetically, the Sexual Wellness Center has distinguished itself from its mainstream partner. The website’s pale blue background is in stark contrast to the black and orange theme featuring Pornhub’s more explicit materials.

With Pornhub’s bold new initiative, other pornographic websites may follow suit. Just this month, the adult website xHamster protested Utah’s refusal to adopt a comprehensive sexual education program by redirecting traffic from the state to websites hosting sexual education videos. Utah currently provides abstinence education only.

Creative, Podcasts

The McGill Tribune Podcast: Weighing in on women’s birth control

by Jeannie Richardson on

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The McGill Tribune Podcast is the Trib’s home for long-form narrative podcasts. In this episode, student living contributor, Jeannie Richardson, questions the benefits of hormonal birth control and the difficulties women face in choosing the “right one.”

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This episode was produced by Jeannie Richardson, Noah Sutton, Audrey Carleton and April Barrett. 
Sound recording and editing by Noah Sutton.

Special thanks to Dr. Steben, Teresa Norris and our panel guests, Romane, Holly, Selin, Mia, and Kinga.


Music provided by Richie Dagger’s Crime and Joy Scouts.
Cover illustration by Cordelia Cho.

If you’re interested in producing your own podcast, learning more about podcasting or providing your own music for future episodes drop us a line at [email protected].

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.”

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