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The history of Igloofest: The path to becoming one of the hottest festivals in Montreal

by Miguel Principe on

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Every winter since 2006, Igloofest has provided Montrealers with the largest, rowdiest month-long party to occur at the Old Port. At the heart of the thumping beats and dancing people is Nicholas Cournoyer, the executive producer of the festival. Along with co-founder Pascal Lefebvre, Cournoyer thought of creating a festival in the middle of winter after he founded another staple of the Montreal music scene—Piknic Electronik. Piknic Electronik is an electronic music festival that occurs every Sunday at Parc Jean-Drapeau from May to October.

“What came first [before Igloofest] was Piknic Electronik,” Cournoyer said. “[….] After two years [of Piknic], we were thinking, ‘There are people that want to have electronic music in a different environment, what can we do differently?’ We started brainstorming on doing things and we ended up on the idea, ‘Let’s do this in the wintertime!’ And at first, we laughed, [but] in the end we thought, why not?”

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Before officially putting on the first Igloofest, the Piknic Electronik crew held two editions of its “semi-predecessor” at Lac des Cygnes at Fête des Neiges. They were equally successful as the summer festival, with the first event attracting 1,200 people and the second achieving an attendance of 1,500 people. The success of these trial runs gave Cournoyer and his Piknic Electronik team the confidence they needed to create Igloofest.

Creating this massive winter electronic festival does not come without its challenges, the first and most obvious being its temporal setting: The dead of winter. The low temperatures are a physical strain for both attendees and organizers.  

“Weather forecast for Piknic can be a problem […,] but the variety of weather challenges are bigger during the wintertime,” Cournoyer said. “The other thing is, [dragging] people out in the wintertime is more tough than in the summertime, […] there’s people that have heard about the event, but will never make the move [….Another thing is] all the employees’ situation in cold weather, […] it’s physically more demanding. If you work the same amount of hours during the summertime [compared to] the wintertime, you won’t have the same fatigue.”

Another logistical problem for Igloofest as it became a bigger event, was its unexpected popularity. Cournoyer and his team struggled to manage the increasing fanbase of Igloofest—tickets selling out at accelerating paces meant more fans got upset by their inability to buy tickets.

“We had some sold-out shows in the beginning […] and [one] would say, ‘It’s a good thing to have sold out shows,’ but you have to manage how people that won’t be able to make it […] would react,” Cournoyer said. “In the first few years, we had [a DJ named] Modeselektor, there were sold-out shows and we were happy, but people were going nuts and just jumping over the fence. So [we needed] to prepare the security guys. And people were walking on the ice and [trying to] come to the backstage to try to go in. [People] went nuts.”

This year, in celebration of Montreal’s 375th anniversary, Igloofest has teamed up with other organizers of winter events, with hopes of building bridges across the city. Cournoyer and his team are sharing their experience with Igloofest by helping out other /Hivernales/ events, such as Barbegazi—an extreme sports competition that occurred on Jan. 9—and Jeux Nordik—a comical obstacle course based on winter life in Montreal that will happen during the weekends of Feb. 11 and 18. The growing presence of Igloofest in the Montreal winter festival scene is sign of their essential role in the city. The organizers are very content with the improvements the event has seen over the years.

“We improved the sonography [of Igloofest] a lot this year, we invested a lot,” Cournoyer said. And the show is awesome. […] It’s really more immersive, it’s incredible, it’s perfect.”

Science & Technology

McGill Psychiatry professor directs documentary about divorced fathers in Montreal

by Charlotte Hings on

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In Canada, approximately 40 per cent of heterosexual marriages end in divorce, with women initiating 70 per cent of those breakups. In divorces that involve the custody of children, judges nearly always give full custody to mothers. Historically, a common custody arrangement  only let the father see his children every other weekend. This was because the dominant research throughout the last half of the 20th century was focused on the importance of the mother’s role in the child’s development and not on the father’s role. Advancements in psychology have come to demonstrate the importance of the father figure in the lives of children.

Dr. Robert Whitley, assistant professor in Psychiatry and principal investigator of the Social Psychiatry Research and Interest Group (SPRING) at Douglas Hospital Research Centre, focuses his research on recovery and stigma. This month, he directed a short documentary entitled, Père-sévérance: Briser L'isolement (Separated Fathers: Breaking the Isolation). The film chronicles a group of separated fathers who use or have used the services at Pères Séparés (Separated Fathers) inc., a not-for-profit referral centre located in eastern Montreal. In this documentary, the fathers discuss their experiences, feelings, and perseverance through their divorce and separation from their children. The film stresses the importance of a father figure in the lives of children.

The ending of any meaningful relationship is always extremely difficult for both partners. Men and women often have different ways of dealing with their emotions after a divorce and the documentary takes the perspective of the man. In general, men have trouble dealing with their emotions because they are socialized not to vocalize them and find it harder to do so than women.

“They tend to keep to themselves to avoid the judgment of others because they think that if they say something to someone it will be perceived as a failure on their part,” Jerome, a father in the documentary, separated since 2008, said.

Many men also have a reflex to isolate themselves, which is tied to traditional ideals of masculinity or the perception of the quintessential man who is strong, autonomous, and capable of coping. Patrick, a father in the documentary who has been separated from his wife since 2006, describes his feelings of isolation and helplessness.

“I found myself feeling vulnerable and completely weak,” Patrick said. “I had suicidal thoughts and was ready to act them out.”

From the child’s perspective, previous research was centred on determining the role of the maternal figure in a child’s life. In general, findings stated that absence of a mother figure in the early years of child development can lead to delinquent character development and persistent misbehaviour in children. Newer research findings presented in the documentary do not undermine the importance of the mother, but particularly emphasize the father’s role in child development.

“It is essential for children to have access to both their parents,” Martin, a father who has been separated since 2014, said in the documentary. “It is what is best for the children. However, there are exceptions and situations and cases where it may not be ideal to grant joint custody [.…] Children need both their parents, but only if the parents are stable.”

The organization highlighted in the documentary, Pères Séparés (Separated Fathers) inc., aims to break the isolation by bringing together groups of separated fathers and providing a safe, non-judgmental space where they can share their experiences and thoughts. The organization offers resources over the phone and over Skype, as well as individual hour-long meetings, weekly support groups, and meetings with a volunteer family lawyer. Patrick describes how he overcame his suicidal thoughts with the help of Separated Fathers inc.

“I got through it by remembering the saying that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” Patrick said. “Just the fact that I was not alone and that we were all experiencing the same suffering awakened something in me.”

A few years later, he is now a facilitator at Separated Fathers inc. and leads the support groups.

The film highlights the need for further information that focuses on fathers who go through divorce.

Private, Student Life, Student of the Week

Student of the Week: Claire Motyer

by Flaminia Cooper on

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“I’ve been playing violin since I was four, so I’ve always defined myself as a musician,” Claire Motyer, U3 Music, said.

Motyer spent her whole life immersed in musical performance, until she injured herself in her first semester at McGill University from over-rehearsing.

“I was […] practicing four hours a day plus rehearsals, so up to six to eight hours a day,” Motyer said. “It was just way too much on my body and I immediately started experiencing discomfort and pain.”

After only a month of studying in an intense violin performance programme, Motyer developed tendonitis in her wrist, creating a major setback in her degree and passion. Her injury also took a toll on her mental health. The sheer demand of the music programme at McGill can create a stressful environment for students, which led to the development of a mandatory peer mentorship program for musicians’ mental health in 2015. For Motyer, studying music caused her to experience high levels of anxiety.

“I think part of the reason I got injured was the stress and anxiety that I was experiencing when I arrived here, and feeling like I had all these expectations that I had to meet,” Motyer said. “[….] Then when I was faced with this injury, I had to redefine who I was if I wasn’t going to be a musician anymore.”

This unfortunate event ultimately kickstarted Motyer’s interest in musician’s health, and over the past couple years she has invested increasing amounts of her spare time into the subject. In September 2016, she started an Instagram account, @c__natural, and last month she posted her first blog post on her new website, C Natural.

Over 80 per cent of orchestra musicians have experienced a physical injury during their careers, but discussion of the topic is stigmatized, as many perceived health struggles as a flaw that would detract from their image as an accomplished musician. Motyer speaking out about her personal experience will hopefully demonstrate, not only to musicians but the wider public, that such struggles are normal and can even provide a path to alternative opportunities.

Though the blog is still fairly new, it has provided Motyer with an outlet to express her thoughts on the under-acknowledged issue of musicians’ health. In some of her first blog posts, she discusses her personal experiences and gives advice to other musicians who are also suffering. As the blog develops, Motyer aims to explore structural flaws in the music world.

In her most recent blog post, published on Jan. 15, Motyer discusses the pressures of practicing an instrument as a musician. Even when there is good reason to continue practicing, such as an upcoming concert or audition, pushing oneself too hard can lead to injury. This is more harmful in the long-run, as it can affect one’s future opportunities or success by hindering his or her ability to play.

“I want to […] show it’s not necessarily what [musicians] are doing wrong, but what the education system is doing wrong,” Motyer said. “[Physical strain] wasn’t just the reason that I got injured, it was [also] because I had to do so many things, […] its because I had a lot of pressure on me.”

Considering the short amount of time that the blog has been active, she has already received positive feedback for her efforts, and regularly receives messages from professional musicians, former music teachers, and colleagues about her work.

“I wanted to start a lot of this a long time ago, but because I was still experiencing [health problems] so much myself, I couldn't start everything,” Motyer said. “Now that I’ve come to terms with my own situation and my own mental health, as well as the injury, I’m really able to see where this is going.”

Motyer’s focus on musician’s health is paying off. In addition to her online presence, she is currently working as the Music Intern at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which has enabled her to speak to a large and diverse audience of people about health issues for musicians. As of January 2017, she has also put together the Schulich Musicians' Health Committee at McGill, which has organized a Musician’s Health Awareness Week to take place from Feb. 13 to 19.

“Musician’s health is [now] where I want to go [professionally], instead of being a performer, but it took me a long time to acknowledge that I couldn’t be a performer anymore,” Motyer said.

Though Motyer hasn't fully recovered yet and still struggles with her injury while playing, she frequently incorporates her own daily practice into her blog and social media posts. The violinist also has plans to develop the blog further by including featuring guest posts from peers and professors. She has a friend working on the next blog post for C Natural, who will be describing her own experience with music and mental health.

“People that I’d rarely spoken to who wanted to share their stories and contribute to the blog,” Motyer said. “[….] That’s what I want this blog to become, it’s not just about me sharing my experience, but people in general communicating more about this issue and really coming together on this and raising awareness about it.”

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Motyer has fully recovered from her injury, and that Musician's Health Awareness Week will take place from Feb. 18-19. In fact, Motyer has not yet recovered from her injury, and still struggles with it while playing, and Musician's Health Awareness Week will take place from Feb. 13-19. The Tribune regrets these errors.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Oscars snub some of the year’s best films

by Declan Embury, Ariella Garmaise, Morgan Davis, Niklas Kaemmerer on

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Silence

Based on the 1966 Japanese novel of the same name, Silence follows two Jesuit missionaries who are sent to Japan with two missions. The first is to find Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), a priest who is believed to have committed apostasy. Second, to continue Ferreira’s work developing small Christian communities, which at the time were persecuted in Japan. Silence is a longtime passion project of director Martin Scorsese; it has been in development for 25 years—and it shows. Every shot, character, and line of dialogue is purposeful, and they come together to create a film that is both stunning and thought-provoking. The amazing power Silence has is in its ability to make the viewer question their own faith, and beyond that, the meaning that faith has in one’s life. This is embodied in the two missionaries, Father Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver), whose idea about God, and what God means to this Japanese community, shift and change through the course of the film.

 It  was shocking to see Silence only receive one Academy Award nomination, especially considering Scorsese’s history as an Academy favorite. His movies have received eighty nominations and 20 wins throughout his career. 

– Declan Embury

Contributor 

Nocturnal Animals

From emotional real-world dramas, to inspirational and uplifting biopics and self-congratulatory musicals, this year’s Oscars seem to represent every genre; save for morally-questionable psychological thrillers. Enter Tom Ford’s second theatrical release, Nocturnal Animals.

The film is anchored by a trio of strong performances from Amy Adams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Michael Shannon (who received the film’s sole nomination in the Supporting Actor category), the film weaves together three separate narratives over two time periods, focusing on the relationship between Susan Morrow (Adams) and her ex-husband of twenty years (Jake Gyllenhaal). Ford’s direction is focused: The tone of the film never wavers from the nightmarish and torturous grit necessary for the plot, and is immaculately crafted through the film’s stunning imagery, cinematography, and score.

Having accumulated various BAFTA and Golden Globes nominations, as well as the Grand Jury Prize in Venice, the film was well on its way to Oscar recognition. Perhaps Academy voters were turned off by its graphic violence or ambiguous ending, but the film’s complete shutout from most major categories comes as a shock.

– Niklas Kaemmerer

Contributor

Sully

Sully appeared to possess the qualities of an award-winning film. Directed by household name Clint Eastwood and starring the beloved Tom Hanks, Sully’s retelling of the true story of US Airways Flight 1549 seemed to be a successful equation for awards season. When Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger miraculously landed his failing aircraft on the Hudson River, the story caught the attention of millions. The two names at the forefront of Sully’s promotional efforts—Eastwood and Hanks—have received plenty of Oscar love in the past. Hanks has received the title of Best Actor five times in his career and Clint Eastwood has won twelve Academy Awards in multiple categories. 

2016 took a substantial step in the direction of discussing a broader array of stories in film. The feminism and antiracism of Hidden Figures, the exploration of cultural identity Lion and queer love story of Moonlight all address the reality of a diverse American society. Perhaps, what limited Sully’s Oscar success was its choice to depict an outdated version of the ‘all-American hero,’ ­rather than  more socially topical characters. Hanks and Eastwood are nonetheless two talented men that succeeded in creating a captivating visualization of a historical airline incident.  

– Morgan Davis

Staff Writer

Don’t Think Twice

It is hard to consider Mike Birbiglia’s small, independent film as a conventional snub. The film is not a star-studded, big budget affair, and it wasn’t even nominated for any Golden Globes. Perhaps the counterpoint to the Academy Award favourite La La Land, Don’t Think Twice explores the dark underbelly of the entertainment industry. The film follows an improv troupe, the Commune, after one of their own is hired for a Saturday Night Live-esque show. Whereas La La Land follows the glamorous Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as they chase their creative dreams, Don’t Think Twice’s characters confront the hard truth that they may never “make it.” Oscars are typically awarded to broader, more obvious studio films, but Don’t Think Twice is no less powerful. Each scene is physically excruciating, highlighting the non-comedy specific jealousy, ambition, and resentment. With a 99 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Don’t Think Twice has been lauded by critics—and yet, Hollywood is hesitant to acknowledge its efforts. Rarely does the Academy award comedy, but funny films are no less poignant than their dramatic counterparts—and a great movie should be both. 

– Ariella Garmaise

Staff Writer

Science & Technology

Using Tor for anonymous internet browsing

by Benji Taubenblatt on

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Commonly known as the “onion router,” Tor Project is a free software that allows users to browse the Internet anonymously. By defending against traffic analysis—a type of Internet surveillance—Tor aims to protect its users’ privacy and anonymity on the web.

Tor works by creating a distributed, anonymous network.

“The idea is similar to using a twisty, hard-to-follow route in order to throw off somebody who is tailing you—and then periodically erasing your footprints,” Tor’s website explains.

Tor builds circuits of encrypted connections by using many connected relays on a network, such that no single connection can be used to pinpoint a user’s location. Without the full information, each relay knows only where data packets have come from or where they are going, and the user’s Internet protocol (IP) address is never revealed to any website. By sending communications around a distributed network of servers run by volunteers around the world, Tor helps reduce the risk of traffic analysis.  

Under the condition of characteristic anonymity, a Tor core developer came to speak at McGill’s Cultural Industries (COMS: 541) class during Fall 2016.

"You can’t be anonymous alone,” he said. “Anonymity is strengthened by its numbers.”

The many relays around the world help users remain anonymous. In this way, Tor users will become even more secure the more people use the software.

Tor is often used in countries where access is limited due to censorship or other restraints, and thus functions as a vessel for users to reach otherwise blocked content.

“Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents,” Tor’s website explains. “Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they're in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they're working with that organization.”

Tor was first created by the United States Naval Research Laboratory almost 20 years ago. Today, there are estimated to be nearly two million users, although it is hard to measure due to the inherent anonymity of the software. The U.S. Navy still uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering and anonymous communications while in the field. Tor is also used for security during sting operations or to prevent websites from seeing government IP addresses in their web logs.

As a result of Tor’s privacy capabilities and ability to mask a website’s location, online black markets are also often formed.

While Tor helps users remain anonymous, it is important to still exercise precaution on the Internet even while using Tor. Almost all communications over the Internet are sent in the form of data packets. Data packets consist of the packet header, which contains information—such as source, destination, and size—and the packet payload, containing the actual data.

“Even if you encrypt the data payload of your communications, traffic analysis still reveals a great deal about what you’re doing and, possibly, what you’re saying,” Tor’s website cautions.

Tor prevents observers from learning what sites a user visits and prevents the sites from learning their actual physical location. However, it does not defend against end-to-end attacks—where statistical analysis is used on traffic coming out of the user’s  computer and into the destination computer to determine if they are part of the same circuit.

Although Tor protects anonymity, it is not foolproof. In fact, in 2009, a McGill student was put on academic probation for editing a professor’s Wikipedia page on McGill’s Virtual Private Network (VPN). IP addresses on a network are managed by a central computer called a router, which forwards data packets between computer networks.

“In the case of McGill networks, this router is owned by McGill,” a 2009 McGill Daily article explained.

Now, IP addresses serve as identifiers and location addresses so when students log into McGill’s VPN with their McGill ID, their identity is revealed and anonymity is no longer a possibility.

In the absence of McGill’s VPN, consider Tor for improved security. As a free and open source software, Tor is a perfect example of human collaboration and innovation, and first and foremost promotes and helps protect personal privacy.

McGill, News

Let’s keep talking: Mental Health Awareness Week at McGill

by Catie Futhey on

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From Jan. 23 to 29, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held workshops, screened movies, and distributed cupcakes in order to spark conversation about mental health across campus during the fourth annual Mental Health Awareness Week. There were several additional contributors to the campaign this year, including the Peer Support Centre, the McGill Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (MORSL), and McGill Counselling and Mental Health Services (MCMHS).

According to Alyssa Wooster, U2 Arts and peer health educator for mental health at Healthy McGill, mental health awareness at McGill has been gaining recognition in recent years.

“Many students are struggling,” Wooster said. “For lack of a better word, mental health has become more of a ‘buzzed’ topic on campus as [people are] realizing it’s a prominent issue.”

McGill Student Services Mental Health Education Coordinator Tamara Cassis said that mental illness and mental health are on two separate, yet closely related, continuums.

“Mental health can fluctuate with things like sleep or life stressors, and mental illness is something diagnosed in the DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual],” Cassis said. “I like to compare it to Type 1 diabetes. You can have Type 1 and be managing your insulin well, but you’re still diabetic.”

On Jan. 26, Cassis and Chloe Rourke, also a McGill Student Services Mental Health Education coordinator, led the Motivation and Self-Determination Workshop. The workshop discussed theoretical concepts, such as the spectrum of motivation and the three fundamental psychological needs, and how they can be applied to daily life.

Cassis and Rourke said that according to Self-Determination Theory, the three basic psychological needs are autonomy, relatedness, and competence. People are more likely to be intrinsically motivated when they thrive in these fundamental areas. In turn, with intrinsic motivation comes good mental health. Making time for the things you love to do has a positive effect on other aspects of your life as well. In support of this, Rourke said that maintaining interpersonal relationships optimizes students’ mental health.

“Paradoxically, the competitive environments that we’re in as students aren’t good for our productivity,” Rourke said. “We have to make time for connections. Close relationships increase our overall mental health, which increases our productivity.”

Several different types of motivation were outlined by Cassis and Rourke, including acting for the intrinsic value of the action itself. According to Cassis and Rourke, it is important to preserve intrinsic motivation as it tends to fade throughout life.

Rourke said that what makes mental health such a vaguely understood concept for many is its lack of empirical certainty. For example, the notion of relatedness refers to our need for close relationships with others.

“The subjective sense of need is what matters,” Rourke said. “I can’t measure your relatedness. I can only measure how related you feel.”

The Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), a six-week program facilitated by students who have experience overcoming obstacles in mental health, was highlighted during the week. The program, developed in Vermont in the late 1990s, is designed to provide participants with concrete and personalized tools to improve their mental health.

According to Cassis, who is also a facilitator of the WRAP sessions, the WRAP approach is an effective way to maintain good mental health on a daily basis.

“I’ve found it very helpful,” Cassis said. “Moments where I could’ve easily gone into a depression, I didn’t. It really makes a difference.”

As of Winter 2017, students can now sign up for WRAP without being referred by MCMHS.

Commentary, Opinion

American Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos is a threat to students with disabilities

by Julia Metraux on

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I would not be at McGill University if it were not for the assistance of the United States of America’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law requiring schools to provide for the individual needs of students with disabilities. Guidelines set by the IDEA enabled me to succeed in a public education system because this law put me on an equal playing field as the rest of my classmates.

Betsy DeVos, whom President Donald Trump has nominated as Secretary of Education, terrifies me. In a Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 18, when questioned by U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, DeVos refused to state that all public schools should be held equally accountable to the IDEA requirements, and said that the decision to follow IDEA should be determined by the states. In the questioning, DeVos also did not seem to understand the difference between proficiency and growth. Proficiency is a student’s comparative performance over a standard benchmark, whereas growth is a student’s individual improvement over time—given the current educational debate on whether to transition from testing proficiency to testing improvement, DeVos’ apparent unfamiliarity with the terms is alarming. Her lack of appreciation for the importance IDEA is likely due to her lack of general lack of experience: She has never attended a public school, never sent her children to public schools, nor received a degree in Education. DeVos is extremely unqualified for the position of Secretary of Education, due her lack of knowledge on public education and her views of IDEA.

Schools need to be held to equal accountability when it comes to student disabilities. For every student, the purpose of going to school is to learn in order to succeed in life. If a school decides to allocate more money to a sports program and cut funds for students with disabilities—potentially violating IDEA guidelines—it sets disabled students up for failure. This is both morally and legally wrong, and such schools deserve to be held liable.

Betsy DeVos, whom President Donald Trump has nominated as Secretary of Education, terrifies me.

Allowing IDEA to be determined by state would be a disaster, as the quality of public education varies across states. For example, according to Forbes, the quality of public education in Massachusetts is equivalent to Hong Kong, which ranks fourth in the world, whereas the District of Columbia has an 8 per cent math proficiency among public school students, putting it on par with lower-ranking countries, like Mexico and Kazakhstan.

Personally, I have a mild to moderate hearing loss, a neuro-associative anxiety disorder, and have had multiple concussions. These all had the potential of being major roadblocks in my life, but my Massachusetts K-12 public school system upheld the standards set forth by IDEA and was supportive of my distinct learning needs. When I suffered from a speech impediment, they gave me free speech therapy which lessened my lisp. When my grades started plummeting on tests due to my inability to focus as a result of anxiety, I was given extended time. When I had to miss extended periods of school due to concussions, I was not reprimanded for my absences.

When discussing the help I received, I have to acknowledge my privilege: I attended a public school system in a wealthy Massachusetts suburb; I had the assistance of an amazing guidance counselor. Yet the importance of IDEA for me cannot be understated. To make sure that all states are held to the same standard, IDEA should be more uniformly enforced. The Department of Education should be rigorous in ensuring the Act’s accommodations and guidelines are followed.

Throughout his campaign, Trump promised that he would put the best people in his cabinet. DeVos is not only far from being the best—she is a danger to public education. Students with disabilities deserve better.

 

 

Editorial, Opinion, Private

Editorial: SSMU’s lack of transparency and lagging support leave new ISGs in limbo

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On April 7, 2016, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Services Review Committee changed the status of Organic Campus, the Players Theatre and other student services within SSMU’s structure. In a similar restructuring move on May 24, 2016, SSMU revoked the club status of the McGill Outdoors Club (MOC). These changes—ratified nine months ago—have had profound implications for the functioning of the affected groups, specifically for those given Independent Student Group (ISG) status. Yet it was not until January 2017 that VP Student Life Elaine Patterson’s addressed the transition process for new ISGs. SSMU’s silence on the matter has left these groups stranded in managing their new responsibilities. SSMU’s detached—or, in the case of the MOC, seemingly unilateral—decision-making process that yielded these changes, as well as the lack of guidance through their immediate aftermath, fail the society’s mandate to support its student groups.

While the distinction may seem innocuous, there are important differences between a club or service and an ISG vis-à-vis the group’s relationship to SSMU. Clubs and services fall under the legal and financial oversight of SSMU, whereas ISGs exist independently from the society. Unsurprisingly, independence increases a group’s responsibilities. In addition to obtaining legal status as a non-profit organization in the province of Quebec, ISGs must acquire their own insurance, and file their own taxes.

 

 

 

Part of SSMU’s mandate is to offer services to improve the McGill student experience—this means ensuring that the student groups that provide these services are viable and functioning.

These are substantial and often expensive requirements, which unprepared student groups may not be able to accommodate. The Services Review Committee, which was reinstated in 2015 for the first time since 2011, has a legitimate mandate in evaluating the existing services’ structure and compliance with the internal regulations of student groups. However, while the April 7 report concluded that Organic Campus and the Players Theatre did not meet these criteria, it offered little as to why or how these groups would operate better with the ISG status that they were given. Part of SSMU’s mandate is to offer services to improve the McGill student experience—this means ensuring that the student groups that provide these services are viable and functioning. When the Committee enacts changes to student groups in the future, it must consider whether they are sustainable for the group in question. 

The MOC’s transition from club to ISG had a more concrete rationale. Former VP Clubs and Services Kimber Bialik argued that operating as an ISG makes sense for the group, given its external bank account and independent insurance. SSMU has been negotiating the switch with the MOC for the past two years.

However, this does not justify the way the decision was finally made. The Board of Directors and last year’s SSMU Council not only changed the MOC’s status without the group’s knowledge or consent, but waited until the last meeting of the 2016 school year to do so. Minutes from the the May 24 meeting suggest that concern over how MOC’s finances would appear to new auditors motivated the last-minute decision, rather than the best course of action for the club. Moreover, General Manager Ryan Hughes raised the question of possible ‘media flak’ in response to the decision. The minutes of the meeting are, notably, not accessible on the SSMU website—an unacceptable breach of accountability and transparency. 

With the exception of former SSMU president Kareem Ibrahim and director Kahli Douglas, who abstained from voting on the decision, the lack of transparency and hastiness of the MOC decision falls on last year’s SSMU executives. However, it is equally unacceptable that this year’s team has been so slow to extend support to the student groups forced to change their structure. The Players Theatre remains in transition to its new status, while Organic Campus no longer exists as of January 2017. The MOC, meanwhile, is actively appealing the decision to revoke its club status. Patterson plans to aid transitioning groups, with the goal of having all ISGs stable by the end of the Winter 2017 term. Specifically, she intends to assist new ISGs with their application for legal status in Quebec. This is a positive yet retroactive step. 

SSMU is itself a student-operated body. Like the clubs and services that it supports, it faces the challenge of finite resources and manpower. Overburdened executive portfolios and the stringent 2016-2017 budget necessitate strategic and sometimes unpopular decisions for the society’s student groups, as has already been demonstrated by the moratorium on new clubs. When these decisions are made, however, they must be made transparently—in consultation with affected parties, and with regard for their consequences. 

The McGill Tribune has been an ISG since 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

Private, Student Life, Word on the Y

Word on the ‘Y’: What did you take away from the Women’s March on Washington?

by Audrey Carleton on

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On Saturday, Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, activists flocked to cities across and beyond the U.S. to advocate for the rights of those now threatened by this drastic political change. Of the millions of marchers across the world were a handful of McGill students. The McGill Tribune spoke to several students about what they learned from the Women’s March on Washington.

 

Question: What did you take away from the Women’s March on Washington?

Answer:

Washington, D.C. 

(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)
(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)

Rebecca Jacobson, U3 Classical Music Studies

(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)
(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)

“I guess that there are a lot more people behind me than I thought, which gave me a bit of hope. The number of people there was pretty motivating.”

 

 

Paris

(Photo courtesy of Emily Stimpson)
(Photo courtesy of Emily Stimpson)

Emily Stimpson, U2 Women's Studies, studying abroad at Sciences Po

(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)
(Photo courtesy of Emily Stimpson)

“I was deeply impacted by [the] overwhelming whiteness of the march here. I took from that the fact that we as white women are complicit in the election of Trump and the racist policies to come. The march showed me we need to uphold [intersectional feminism] and take greater action in support and solidarity with women of colour.”

 

London

(Photo courtesy of Phoebe Warren)
(Photo courtesy of Phoebe Warren)

Phoebe Warren, U3 Political Science and History studying abroad at Durham University 

(Photo courtesy of Phoebe Warren) (Photo courtesy of Phoebe Warren)

“I took away that no matter how scary things might seem back home, there are people all around the world who will help us fight back against oppression, against apathy, and against the fear that has entered the hearts of so many of us.”

 

 

Montreal

(Alex Gardiner / The McGill Tribune)
(Alex Gardiner / The McGill Tribune)

Xheni Qamo, U3 Political Science and Art History

(Photo courtesy of Xheni Qamo) (Photo courtesy of Xheni Qamo)

“I think the biggest thing I took away from the sister march in Montreal [Manif des femmes] was just comfort from the sense of unity. I don’t mean to sound overly sentimental, but, like a lot [of] people, I’ve felt anxious about Trump’s positions on literally every issue, and it was incredible to be in a space with so many other people who were there to show their dissent [….] It just felt like thousands of people were ready to organize and work against misogyny and systemic discrimination, and it was inspiring. It gave me a sense of hope and comfort that I hadn’t felt since November 9th, and I know a lot of work now needs to be done, but if all the people who took the time to demonstrate continue to work against his rhetoric and policies, I think we’ll be able to keep the world from ending.”

 

New York City 

(Photo courtesy of Eliana Zimmerman)
(Photo courtesy of Eliana Zimmerman)

Eliana Zimmerman, U1 Music Performance

(Photo courtesy of Eliana Zimmerman) (Photo courtesy of Eliana Zimmerman)

“My biggest takeaway from the Women’s March on NYC was the overwhelming sense of unity and optimism that it created. Even before the march began, as my friends and I were walking around, gathering supplies on the Upper West Side, nowhere near the march, total strangers would stop and ask us what the posters under our arms said, and wish us luck for later—they'd see us there! It was a camaraderie that felt very hopeful in the face of these alarming, uncertain times. Especially because New York is a city so near and dear to Mr. Trump, and he has clearly been attempting to retain power over it, it felt like an important act of defiance in his personal territory.”

 

News, SSMU

SSMU launches new Executive Shadowing Program

by Cherry Wu on

More in News:

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive team is made up of seven enrolled students who oversee aspects of student life on campus. Each executive has been elected by the student body to manage a specific portfolio; positions include Vice-President (VP) Operations, VP University Affairs, VP Student Life, VP External Affairs, VP Internal Affairs, VP Finance, and President.

Beginning on Jan. 24, SSMU launched an Executive Shadowing Program that allows students to sign up to shadow a SSMU executive by filling out a short online form. The application puts students in contact with a SSMU executive through email and, once connected, the student and the executive schedule a time to meet.

An objective of the Shadowing Program is to demonstrate the responsibilities of the executives, thus preparing potential future candidates.  VP Student Life  Elaine Patterson said that understanding SSMU executive positions can be difficult without first-hand experience.

“A year ago, I had never really done student staff work personally,” Patterson said. “So, I understand that it could be very intimidating to run for a position. I think the shadowing program will show interested students that this is really a welcoming environment. You can read all on paper about what the position is like, but until you actually sit behind this table, you cannot really understand what the job really entails.”

Before the restructuring of positions at the end of last school year, executives regularly worked over 100 hours. Ger and VP Internal Daniel Lawrie both stated that, despite the long hours and stress, being a part of the SSMU executive is a valuable experience.

“Honestly, it is in a sense an internship to life, getting a sense of how to work a job, and having a team around you to get the job done,” Lawrie said.

SSMU elections have historically had low voter turnout, with only 17.5 per cent of the undergraduate student body participating in the most recent election. The Executive Shadowing Program was developed in Summer 2016 to increase the transparency of SSMU governance and promote engagement with the campus community. It is expected to extend to SSMU councillors and upper administrative members of McGill staff in the future.

Planned to start early this week, the program will have no end date. The length and the content of the shadowing will be left to the discretion of the student and his or her assigned executive. With the candidates for the previous SSMU election consisting mainly of Caucasian males and the recent SSMU-sponsored report on equitable governance, President Ben Ger hopes that the program will play a role in further reform.

“In the past year, we have really been focusing on providing equal access to governance for all identities on campus,” Ger said. “Elections definitely favour a specific population and I believe the makeup of our executives team could definitely be better. The shadowing program will make elections more accessible to everyone.”

The SSMU election nomination period for next year’s executives will begin Jan. 30 and end Feb. 10, with voting from March 13 to 16. After the election results are announced on March 16, the incoming executives will go through a month-long transition period in May and start their official term on June 1.

“When you step into a position like this, you are stepping in to become the heads of a multimillion-dollar company that is only here to help,” Ger said. “It is not here for profit. It is here to specifically make people happier. It is so hard yet so overwhelmingly rewarding. The people who I went into this with has become the family I’m going to be walking out with.”

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