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a, Arts & Entertainment

Pop Rhetoric: You can’t handle the truth—unless it’s handled properly

by Wyatt Fine-Gagné on

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The first time I listened through Benji, the latest offering from Sun Kil Moon, I was wandering around Macdonald Campus trying to find a place to get a coffee. I’d finally figured out where I could buy one when the sweet organ at the beginning of “Jim Wise” came on. The song tells the story of a man on house arrest for mercy-killing his terminally ill wife, but then is unable to successfully end his own life while at her bedside in a hospital. The story engrossed me, and by its end, I found myself in a hallway I didn’t recognize, unsure of how I got there, and still without a cup of coffee in my hands.

Benji has been well received for the most part by critics and listeners, drawing praise for its lyricism above all else. It is quite literal, with singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek describing actual events from his life in a straightforward fashion, recounting specific stories without the use of metaphors or other figures of speech. This type of songwriting often leads to lyrics that are cumbersome and awkward; however, when done well, it tends to produce incredibly poignant and touching music.

Lyrics that hide most of their meaning below the surface are not inherently better or worse than the kind that Kozelek puts forth on Benji—they’re simply different. When the “verbal obfuscation,” as Ian Cohen of Pitchfork calls the former style, is wiped away, you’re left to deal with your own emotion. Instead of forcing you to dig into the lyrics, these songs make you dig into your own self, looking inward rather than outward for meaning or significance. The visceral quality of this well-executed lyricism has the ability to provoke ephemeral moments of intense listener engagement—as it did for me on Macdonald campus—and holds true across all genres, not just folk rock.

One of the best rap albums in recent memory uses this formula extraordinarily well. Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, M.A.A.D. city is a concept album that takes you inside his upbringing in Compton, a world where family and faith act as last lines of defence against gang violence and crime. The album’s meaning is grounded in characters and stories, not hidden behind clever wordplay, which gives added significance to the lessons and ideas that it preaches.

Another example is “Stan,” Eminem’s disturbingly vivid narrative about an imbalanced fan who communicates with the rapper through a series of letters that go unanswered—until it’s too late. Though not explicitly autobiographical, “Stan” takes the same lyrical approach as Kozelek and Lamar, and it is widely viewed as one of his best songs.

It’s hard to pinpoint examples in mainstream music where this style flat out doesn’t work. Simply put, the songs that fall short of capturing something special are likely tabled, rather than pushed by producers and labels. Even though so few unimpressive songs get released, sometimes it happens. On Benji, “Dogs” stands out as one of the lowlights, as Kozelek messily recounts past sexual experiences, but fails to find any truths about the difference between love and sex.

The Weakerthans have a catalogue filled with interesting characters and songs such as “Our Retired Explorer (Dines with Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)”—its premise exactly what its title describes—are quite clever, but don’t manage to venture far beyond that. Stories like these function well enough in songs that disguise their meaning, but in order to succeed in the style discussed here, you need to find tales in which listeners can see themselves.

As “Stan” shows, the narratives don’t necessarily need to be true either. Sufjan Stevens is quite good at writing songs that feel more like stories, the best of which might be “Casimir Pulaski Day.” Stevens sings about a lover whose significant other is diagnosed with cancer and later passes away. It is beautiful, devastating, and entirely made up, but the fact that it is fiction doesn’t make it any less impactful. When the song is over, you’re left with a stinging feeling of loss, forced to confront some of the sadness in your own life.

On Benji’s opener “Carissa,” Kozelek sings about trying to “find some poetry [….] to find a deeper meaning/In this senseless tragedy.” But rather than a string of his own thoughts on death or loss, Kozelek tells a story and allows the audience to decide why it matters. We tend to prefer romanticised versions of our own everyday life in much of the content we consume. Though on the surface it may seem as if there is no “poetry” in our lives, it’s there; and songs like these allow us to see it.

a, Baseball, Sports

The great experiment: Jackie and the Montreal Royals

by Elie Waitzer on

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It’s no secret that Montreal is not a baseball city. The Expos moved out because nobody showed up to their games. Nobody came to watch Pedro Martinez throw fire every five days, or Tim Raines rob hit after hit on the outfield grass, or Gary “Kid” Carter fire bullets to second base. Some pointed fingers at Expos owner Jeffrey Loria, but in Montreal, baseball season had always been little more than a time to recover from the hangover of the Habs’ latest playoff run.

If you want to find a piece of baseball lore in Montreal, you would have to look in the right spot.

First, you’d have to go back in time to before the Expos brought Major League Baseball to Canada. Then you’d have to walk a bit—the opening of the metro is still 20 years away. Rush out of your 8:30 a.m. lecture (it’s a day game; there is no stadium lighting, not yet at least) up University and through the Plateau. A few blocks past Saint-Denis you would cut through Parc La Fontaine and hang a right.

You have arrived at Delorimier Stadium. It’s Opening Day for the Brooklyn Dodgers’ top farm club, the Montreal Royals. The date is May 1, 1946. You take a seat and listen to the sound of 16,000 adoring fans screaming one man’s name: Jackie.

It was not by chance that Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the colour barrier in professional sports, came to Montreal to play ball. Despite having just fought a war in which the enemy was vilified for its horrific discriminatory practices, the United States remained thoroughly segregated. People may have been comfortable sending African-Americans overseas to die for their country, but they wouldn’t dream of letting a black player onto the hallowed fields of their national pastime.

As the story goes, the integration of African-American players into professional baseball was put to a vote in 1946. Of the sixteen major league owners polled, all but one voted against.  The exception was Branch Rickey, president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In Rickey’s eyes, the issue at hand wasn’t desegregation or civil rights. He saw a strategic advantage; dormant sluggers waiting to be handed bats and gloves. According to baseball historian Jack Jedwab, Rickey once confided that “the greatest untapped reservoir of raw material in the history of the game is the black race […] who will make us winners for years to come.”

As with all established traditions, segregation was not a status quo that could be slowly chipped away at. Rickey knew that he needed an athlete who could open America’s eyes so wide that they could never be fully shut again. He needed someone who could dazzle on the field and present an honest image off the field. In Rickey’s words: “We need to convince the world that I’m doing this because [he’s] a great ballplayer and a fine gentleman.”

After passing over established Negro League stars such as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, Rickey found Robinson—an articulate, college-educated, soon-to-be-married Methodist—and the ‘Great Experiment’ was hatched.

Every detail was carefully planned out. Montreal was chosen due to its comparatively weak racial prejudices, and the fact that most of the Royals’ games would be played north of the Mason-Dixon line. The demarcation separated the Confederate states and the Union states during the Civil War and remained a cultural boundary in the years that followed.

The signing itself was kept a secret until October 23, 1945, months after Robinson’s arrival in Montreal. South of the border, the announcement stirred up a national debate, with baseball legends such as Roger Hornsby, Bob Feller, and Connie Mack vehemently opposed to the idea of possibly competing against a black player in the big leagues, let alone having one on their own team. Robinson, of course, was conveniently out of the American media’s reach, and as the cold winter months rolled by, the controversy was buried under metres of Montreal snow.

While popular retellings of the Robinson legend—such as Brian Helgeland’s recent Hollywood biopic 42—often gloss over this period, it can be argued that Robinson’s first winter in Montreal was the beginning of baseball’s desegregation.  After experiencing rejection and hatred in countless American cities, Robinson was surprised when he was able to rent a room in the predominantly French-Canadian neighbourhood of Villeray without a problem. His wife Rachel, who spoke to the Montreal Gazette years later about her experiences, remembered the people of Montreal as warm and hospitable. The children of Avenue de Gaspé rushed to carry her groceries up the icy steps to the apartment, and neighbours began sewing maternity clothes when she became pregnant.

“It was likely that [Rickey] knew the Robinsons would be warmly greeted by the neighbours,” Jedwab said in a recent special to the Gazette

The division in Quebec has always been a linguistic one, and any racist undercurrents would have taken a backseat to the ingrained Anglo-Franco tensions.

“Since most people in the neighbourhood didn’t speak English, the couple was a kind of curiosity […] while the Robinsons were stared at on the streets, the stares were friendly,” Jedwab said. Although the family may not have been able to communicate with their neighbours save for hand gestures, they had found a place where “Jackie” would be recognized and respected first and foremost as a ballplayer, not a black player.

Unburdened by the weight of the civil rights narrative, Robinson took the International League by storm in 1946. The Royals began their season on a long road trip, but news of his prodigious exploits slowly filtered back to Montreal. Rumours swirled that he had knocked a three-run homer in his first at-bat and stolen home his next time on base.

By the time the Royals’ home opener rolled around, Montreal was in the grip of Canada’s first baseball frenzy. According to Toronto Star reporter Richard Griffin, Robinson was unable to join the team’s pre-game practice because he was too busy signing autographs for adoring Royals fans. The Royals won the game 12-9 and, nestled in the riotous crowd of 16,000; Habs legend Maurice Richard would remember the moment as the first time Montreal had cheered for something other than hockey. In a recent retrospective on the magical opening day, New York Times’ sportswriter Joe Sheehan wrote: “Robinson had fully justified [Rickey’s] precedent-setting break with what was described as a baseball tradition.”

Robinson would go on to lead his Royals to a 100-win season and their first Junior World Series title over Louisville. He led the league with a scorching .349 average to go along with 113 runs and 40 steals. After the final out of the championship game was recorded, fans poured out of the bleachers and rushed onto the field, chanting Robinson’s name. Sam Maltin, a stringer for the Pittsburgh Courier, famously described the scene at the time as “the only day in history that a black man ran from a white mob with love instead of lynching on the mind.”

But by no means was Robinson’s season with the Royals free of discrimination. The team would get off the bus in Florida or Georgia, only to find their games canceled because their second baseman was black. Griffin recalls that “On road trips […] no team hotel would take African-Americans.” Through it all, Robinson expressed no desire to retaliate nor turn back. He hoped that Americans listening to his games on the radio would slowly grow used to the idea of an African-American playing in the major leagues. Whatever abuse Robinson experienced on the road, he knew he could always heal his bruises back home.  In their cozy apartment on de Gaspé, the Robinsons were accepted without prejudice.

While baseball tends to paint an overly-nostalgic image of history, one wonders if Montreal has been moving backwards ever since Jackie Robinson left town. All that remains of the hallowed grounds of Deloriomier on which Robinson played is a modest bronze plaque in honour of his accomplishments. Jarry Park Stadium, the Expos’ original field, has been repurposed as a tennis stadium; meanwhile Olympic Stadium, the most recent home of  the Expos, stands as a shell of its former self.

The Expos have been gone for a decade now, and over the next few decades, their legacy will fade, as did that of the Royals. Soon, it may be hard to imagine that the crack of bat on ball ever sounded in this city. The role that Montreal played in the civil rights movement should not serve as a reason to put our city on a pedestal, but as a constant reminder of what Montreal once was, and what it can be.

a, Opinion

Fool me twice, shame on SSMU

by Ben Reedijk on

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SSMU has made its fair share of mistakes this year. We messed up frosh. We messed up on the Farnan apology. We certainly messed up on the building referendum. But all these mistakes would pale in comparison to the mistake President Larson seems to be planning on making. A re-referendum would be a slap in the faces of students and an affront to democracy.

I study democracy—both from the political science and the theory side. It is really complicated, and rarely cut and dry. For example, should President-elect Khan have to advance to a run-off against  runner-up Ayukawa? He only received 78 more votes than her—less than 30 per cent of the total votes—and that’s before we count the abstentions so beloved by McGill Memes (which pointed out that more voters abstained than actually voted for Khan). According to SSMU bylaws, Khan is a democratically elected president. But if this were France, he wouldn’t be, and many theorists would argue he is not. Again: democracy is almost never cut and dry.

There are, however, some pretty basic principles. One of them is that under no circumstances do you re-run referendums. Doing so is a wildly abusive act because it allows for the institution that controls referendums—in this case SSMU—to run referendums ad nauseum until it gets the result it wants. If that’s the plan, we should really just stop kidding ourselves, ignore the constitution (because we’re probably about to abuse it anyways), and just hike student fees unilaterally.

Actually, that would have been a preferable option. As insulting as it would have been to charge students without asking them, it’s far more damaging to ask them and then ignore their answer. Compounding matters and showing that we really just don’t get why students see us as disconnected, apparently the line from the executives is that students just didn’t pay enough attention, so they are going to get another try at making the ‘right’ choice. Even North Korea is generous enough to provide just one option on the ballot in the first place and save everybody some time.

The reality is that we don’t want to accept responsibility for our own mistakes. SSMU ignored the recommendations of a couple of councillors and chose political correctness over principle and common sense when they censured Farnan. There was a profound willingness to listen when students en masse protested against the apology. It actually took the Black Students’ Network coming to Council and pleading with us to reverse the apology and to stop making a mockery of the equity process.

We weren’t done. Organic Campus came to Council asking for a 20-cent fee levy. We asked them why, and they told us that it was because they will otherwise have to raise costs next year in order to operate. We asked them how much and they hadn’t run the numbers. Because its easier to get Council to vote in a fee levy (which then gets passed because Organic Campus campaigned for it and nobody campaigns against 20-cent fee levies) than it is to actually do math. But at Council, again, we didn’t feel offended enough by that assertion to scrap the referendum on the levy.

Concerns from myself and Councillor Élie Lubendo that perhaps the plethora of fee increases might lead to a backlash were politely ignored.

Finally, we showed the same disdain we have for students—those pesky, apolitical students—by not even campaigning for our fee. So if you’re keeping score at home, SSMU has now embarrassed itself with Farnangate, ignored the reaction of student body entirely,  put to shame by the Black Students Network, shown zero respect for students’ wallets (frosh and Organic Campus), and a lack of respect for their ability to say enough by running nine fee increases at the same time and not campaigning for our own.

The line from SSMU is that those students just didn’t know what they were doing: “Gerts is going to be gone!’” “SACOMSS as well!”

(Wrong: Gerts is highly profitable and not going anywhere,  and SACOMSS is separately funded.)

The problem isn’t the students. The problem is SSMU. If this vote doesn’t make us realize that, nothing will.

Ben Reedijk is an Arts Representative to SSMU, and sits on SSMU Council. The views represented here are his alone. 

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Deep cuts: sound bites from Seattle

by Jessica Fu on

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Thank You For Tonight (feat. Eliza Young)

Artist: Sam Lachow

Album: Brand New Bike

Released: January 1, 2011

This rapper begins his nostalgic track with trademark smooth vocals, which he proceeds to layer over rhythmic percussions, rich keyboard cadences, and mesmerizing saxophone samples. He paints an evocative scene—“Green eyes sitting over red lips/Cigarette smoke drips up thick”—while maintaining his work’s characteristically playful tone —“I don’t know what I’m doing/But I know I’m having fun,/ And I don’t know where I’m going/ But I hope you might want to come.” Young proceeds to steal the show with her smoky chorus, concluding one of the most soulful tracks on the album.

A Long Midwinter

Artist: The Horde and the Harem

Album: A Long Midwinter

Released: February 2, 2012

The Horde and the Harem features multiple vocalists taking turns crooning about winter coats, fine clothing, and how “The snow kept falling, such a chill to our hearts” in this noteworthy track. Over a harmonic pairing of keys and guitar strums, the song builds itself up and finally concludes in a sorrowful, melodic cadence. How a band from the Pacific Northwest could so accurately describe the specificities of the Montreal college student winter experience, we will never know.

I Want You

Artist: Odesza

Album: Summer’s Gone

Released: September 6, 2012

This young electronic duo mixes choppy, seemingly erratic cries with metered synthetic snaps in this bright track. Twinkling electronic echoes saturate the song from beginning to end, evoking promising images of the energy of youth and the highs of summer, despite what the album’s title may otherwise suggest.

Elegy

Artist: Hey Marseilles

Album: Lines We Trace

Released: March 5, 2013

Hey Marseilles employs a full symphony—or so it feels—in “Elegy.” These indie rockers expertly balance string work and drumbeats, which supplement their warm, melodic vocals. As the song progresses, its high-arching instrumentals and unanswered lyrical musings lead into a hopeful conclusion that makes you feel as though you’ve been transported out of winter, through spring, past summer, and into fall—all in slow motion.

a, Sports

Women in sports journalism

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In November 2013, a San Francisco sports radio host made a number of misogynistic statements on air, arguing that women did not belong in the world of sports journalism. The resulting uproar shone a spotlight on some of the barriers preventing women from breaking into, and moving up, in sports media today.

According to Amy Lawrence, a CBS radio host, roughly 90 per cent of the producers and on-air talents in sports radio are male. In sports television too, men outnumber women in production roles, as noted by award-winning multimedia journalist Amy K. Nelson. That’s not to mention the alienation some female journalists can feel in male professional locker rooms, outlined in a Sports Illustrated  piece on the subject in November shortly after the comments were made. 

Despite some recent milestones for women in sports media—Molly Solomon was named executive producer for the Golf Channel in 2012—progress has been extremely slow in dismantling the “old boys’ club” mentality of the sports world. In this edition of Changing the Game, we look at how to break down the institutional obstacles that exist for women looking to enter and rise up in the field of sports journalism in order to promote greater diversity in the world of sports media.

Athletes first, reporters second

While women in sports journalism undoubtedly face many industry-specific obstacles, the heart of this problem is the assumption that women are not—or should not be—as interested in sports as men. Athletics organizations need to encourage and legitimize women’s participation in sports culture by increasing support for women to be involved at the foundation of that culture—as athletes. Women cannot thrive professionally in a culture where their participation is consistently undermined by limited opportunities as athletes and a lack of publicity due to poor media coverage.

The promotion of a sports culture in which women can feel comfortable and encouraged to participate athletically is key to their ability to participate in other professions in the field. Whether through increased funding, opportunities, or media coverage, an emphasis on the legitimacy of women’s sports would perpetuate positive views about the acceptance of women in the sports world in general. Role models like Hayley Wickenheiser and Christine Sinclair may encourage girls to not only become athletes, but also be more involved in sports culture through other avenues like journalism. An increase in female athletes would also create a pool of experienced and qualified women to provide expertise and insight as sports journalists once they have retired.

For women to be taken seriously in the world of sports media, we need to make it normal for them to be engaged in athletics culture—whether as viewers, athletes, or journalists.

—Erica Friesen

Recruiting to smash the glass ceiling

Similar to scientific disciplines or engineering, the glass-ceiling paradigm is also in effect for women in sports journalism. There are only a few token jobs considered suitable specifically for women, such as sideline reporter or on-screen reporter. Consequently, there is a lack of role models and, subconsciously, achieving roles of power seems unattainable and ‘unconventional.’

Broadcasters need to start actively seeking women in sports journalism. There are plenty of women attempting to rise up in the field, but men in power perpetuate the present inequality. It is these men in power that need to acknowledge their own biases and start recruiting women. Moreover, women’s voice in sports needs to be considered valid not ‘radical’ because they are not mimicking the ‘conventional’ male voice.

This is not to suggest looking to increase the number of women in sports journalism simply for the sake of gender equality. Hiring women who are not competent to simply fill a quota would continue to perpetuate the idea that women have no place in the sports world.

What needs to occur is the hiring of women who are qualified, not only with on-screen roles, but in production roles that hold more responsibility. This would create an influential drive that would continue making a positive change in sports journalism.

—Rebecca Babcock

The fix is in the family

The issue of gender equality is in no way unique to the world of sports, so it stands to reason that any possible solutions won’t be either. The vast majority of professions have been ‘old boys clubs,’ and in many ways, upper level executive positions continue to be. For as far as our society has progressed in terms of accepting women as more than mothers and homemakers, the overwhelming attitude still seems to be that if a working woman wants to have children, it is up to her to balance raising a family with pursuing a career. By the time most women are at the point where they’ve paid their dues and earned an executive spot, they have also made decisions about starting a family. Options for childcare and paid leave are severely lacking in Canada, and many women opt out of the elite tracks they may be on to focus on their families when they are forced with the choice.

As freelance multimedia journalist Amy K. Nelson suggests, the real problem in the world of sports is a lack of women in positions of power. There is no doubt in my mind that women are more than capable of keeping their heads down, putting in their work, and rising to the top despite any workplace misogyny they might encounter. However, no real, sustainably beneficial change will come for women in any workplace—the sports industry included—until systemic change is effected in terms of childcare for both mothers and fathers. This would allow women to fill higher ranking positions, which would in turn lead to increased equality for women in the world of sports.

—Jacqueline Galbraith

Putting the coach in the booth

The best way to increase the presence of women in the media is to include more female voices in serious tactical analysis of male sports. Analysis of basketball is an area where this could be attainable, given the litany of Hall of Fame basketball coaches who have deep insights into the game that are at a level far higher than the current on-camera product. Great basketball minds like Pat Summitt, C. Vivian Stringer and Jody Conradt would put Skip Bayless in his place far more effectively than Stephen A. Smith. Moves like this would give credibility to women’s views on sport and allow for female opinions to be embraced without criticism; after all, people are less likely to question the acumen of a professional coach who has embodied the culture of winning in her sport than male commentators who themselves have never been involved with professional sports.

Subsequently,viewers would become more accustomed to serious and analytical female voices in sports and these commentators will provide young women with visible role models. Ultimately, fans are going to demand coverage by those who display a deep knowledge of whatever is being talked about, and given the level of expertise of female coaches, there is certainly a supply.

—Zikomo Smith

a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Green is the warmest colour in Glengarry Glen Ross

by Max Bledstein on

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The devious machinations of modern capitalism provoke an awful lot of hand-wringing, but they sure make for a great spectacle. Though much of the contemporary media coverage of Wall Street tycoons tends to be negative, the fact that they receive so much interest in the first place indicates the undeniable fascination they elicit from viewers. Playwright David Mamet vividly captures these contradictions in his vulgar satire Glengarry Glen Ross, and they’re recirculated by first-time director Paul Flicker in his adaptation of the production that’s currently playing at the Segal Centre.

The play’s opening act consists of three extended conversations between different pairs of characters, each of which are dominated by a single person. In every exchange, one of the characters attempts to persuade the other of something, all to varying degrees of success. The three buyer/seller scenarios mimic the cutthroat capitalism of the 1980s Chicago real estate market, which all six of the characters are involved with in some capacity.

In the first scene, the aging salesman Shelley (R.H. Thomson) tries to persuade office manager John (Graham Cumbertson) to let him have access to “leads”—contact information for potential customers. In the next, agents George (Michael Perron) and Dave (Daniel Lillford) discuss a series of issues, including the problems of selling to people of Southeast Asian descent—a segment which was redacted from the 2005 Broadway revival of the play. As the conversation progresses, Dave tries to convince George to break into their office in order to steal “leads” and sell them to another agent. In the final scene of Act I, salesman Ricky (Brett Watson) discusses his philosophy on life with potential client James (Mike Patterson).

Act II reveals the consequences of these conversations. When the curtain rises, the leads have been stolen, Shelley has sold valuable real estate, and Ricky has talked James into buying property from him. The fallout from these events—and the details of how precisely they came to be—form much of the drama of the play’s final act.

Flicker and his ensemble have excellently drawn out the complexities of Mamet’s mockery of capitalism. The actors all take careful note of the cadences of Mamet’s dialogue, and their interactions capture the speed and humour that makes it so remarkable.

In particular, Thomson uses the full range of his voice to convey Shelley’s fluctuation between desperation and confidence. He gives a dynamic performance that reveals Shelley’s flaws and flaunts the complexities of his inner torment.

Watson’s performance also stands out. His smooth talk and impressive stage presence show the audience how he is able to talk James into buying from him with such ease. We, like James, are captivated by Ricky’s pitch, and can’t help but be inspired by his words.

Though not the strongest aspect of the play, several of its production choices are able to effectively mimic the action they support. The black couch and red backdrop of Act I (designed by Michael Eagan) evoke the seediness of the men who share the stage with it. The disarray of the office in Act II mimics the chaos which the men’s lives have been thrown into due to the upending of their order from the robbery. The contrast between the dim lighting of Act I and the vivid illumination throughout Act II (designed by Luc Prairie) helps to further reveal the change in the men’s lives that occurs between the two acts. The smooth jazz played in between scenes (composed by Dmitri Marine) represents the veneered vision of Americana that all the men buy into.

It’s good to have Glengarry Glen Ross brought back to the stage in any capacity, and Flicker’s production certainly does it justice. The strong performances across the ensemble and the sparse production choices serve to express the intricacies of Mamet’s dialogue. Though Mamet originally wrote his drama to mock the excesses of Reagan-era capitalism, the play doesn’t feel dated in the slightest. Although it’s tempting to think of society as having progressed beyond the dog-eat-dog world depicted by Mamet, the current Segal Centre revival of Glengarry Glen Ross reminds us of how little things have actually changed.

a, Montreal, News

Out-of-province students face difficulities in voter registration

by Sam Pinto on

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An unclear definition of requirements to vote in the upcoming Quebec election has led some students to be refused the right to vote on April 7.

According to the Quebec Election Act, a person has the right to vote if they are at least 18 years of age, are a Canadian citizen, and have been domiciled in Quebec for six months.

Dune Desormeaux, a U3 Engineering student from Vancouver, is one McGill student who has been told he does not have the right to vote due to the fact that he does not meet the domicile requirements.

“What it comes down to basically is the word ‘domiciled,’” Desormeaux said. “That is a term which means that you have an address in a place and you have an intention to make that place your permanent […] place of principal establishment.”

According to the Civil Code of Quebec, a domicile is a place that a person considers his or her personal dwelling, publicly acknowledges as his or her domicile, and gives as reference for the exercise of his or her civil rights.

In addition, in order to prove that an establishment in Quebec is your domicile, you must show intention of making it so.

“Intention is evidenced by material facts, such as concrete gestures and behaviours,” the code reads.

Desormaux argues that his intention to make Quebec his domicile should be clear—for example, he has worked in Quebec and his family owns land in Montreal.

“My father was born here, my last name is from family that’s been here for a really long time, and I [have spoken] fluent French […] for 14 years,” Desormaux said.

However, Quebec officials frequently question potential voters, most often out-of-province voters, in order to prove their intention.

Lou-Anne Daoust-Filiatrault, a McGill alumnus from Montreal who accompanied Desormeaux to the registration office, explained that while many students they spoke to from out-of-province were rejected, others with the same backgrounds were accepted.

“Some students are getting it, some students are not,” she said. “I’m sure the law isn’t being applied universally and it’s just completely up to interpretation.”

National media sources have reported that other students have also had difficulties, especially from universities with high out-of-province populations such as Concordia and McGill.

“I’m really disturbed by the way the process is set up—the idea that someone can deny you the right to vote without requesting any additional documentation or having an appeal process,” Sean Beatty, a McGill PhD candidate in virology and bioinformatics from British Columbia, told the CBC.

According to Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President External Samuel Harris, SSMU will be providing students with   information so that they are prepared when they go to the registration office.

“We are going to be sending out information [on how to vote] very soon,” Harris said. “We will be putting out other information on the listserv.”

a, Student Life

Browsing for off-campus housing

by Marlee Vinegar on

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When it comes to finding your new—albeit temporary—home, there are dozens of factors to consider. Location is crucial—how long is the walk to campus? Is there a nearby metro station? Access to grocery stores, or attractions and diversions? Do you want something more upscale, or do you want to keep your costs low? Beyond the insular McGill bubble, there are enough housing options to meet any unique preferences you might have.

Milton-Parc: The upside of living in the Milton-Parc area is that it’s as close to McGill as you can get. The downside is that rent is high and with campus a stone’s throw away, anything further than a 10 minute walk seems disproportionately far. In addition, many apartments in this area have undergone significant wear-and-tear due to their transient tenants.

West of campus: If you want the proximity to campus but slightly nicer accommodations, the apartments just west of campus are equally close as the Milton-Parc area and a bit less grungy. However, rent is on the high side and there’s a notable lack of grocery stores nearby.

Quartier Concordia: A student-heavy area with mainly older low-rise apartment buildings. The cost of rent is a bit lower since there is less competition than in the housing area around McGill. The neighbourhood was part of a redevelopment project in the early part of the millenium that aimed to create a green urban environment that would improve the use of public space, student life, and transportation.

Plateau: A predominantly francophone area, it takes about 25 minutes to get to campus, but the area is brimming with advantages like Parc Lafontaine, chic stores, and trendy restaurants. As you move further to the east, the rent becomes cheaper.

St. Henri and Little Burgundy: More students and young professionals have been moving into the area, which has pushed up the price of rent, although they still remain relatively low. By metro, the trip to campus is only 15 minutes. If you’re into fresh produce, Atwater market is also in the area.

The Village: The village is a vibrant neighborhood, especially in the summer, when the numerous restaurants in the area have outdoor terraces and Saint-Catherine Street is closed off to cars. The 15-20 minute public transit ride to campus is convenient because of the three metro stations in the area. Plus, the rent is fairly inexpensive.

Côtes-des-Neiges: The relatively affordable area is one of the most ethnically diverse in the city. The cultural heterogeneity is reflected in the mixed-bag of cuisine offered by neighbourhood restaurants. Most housing in Côtes-des-Neiges are low-rise buildings, and the area is much closer to University of Montreal than McGill campus.

Mile End: A neighbourhood for people who love art and bagels, the Mile End is a hip area, located 15-20 minutes by public transit away from campus. Increasing popularity has put upward pressure on the price of duplex and triplex housing in this area.

Tips and tricks:

Apartment sizing: Advertisements list the number of rooms—not only bedrooms—in the apartment. Bathrooms are written as a half a room. For example, a two-bedroom apartment with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom would be listed as 4 ½ rooms.

Sublet: If a tenant is going to be absent from the apartment for a stretch of time like during the summer, they can rent the apartment out to someone else. The sub-tenant and the tenant work out the arrangements between themselves, and the landlord is simply notified.

Lease transfer: The document that assigns the lease to a new tenant and releases the previous tenant of all rights and responsibility of the apartment before the term of the original lease is over.

Finder’s fee: A fee—sometimes thousands of dollars—that current tenants charge incoming tenants when executing a lease transfer, often under the guise of a payment for furniture. Due to the fact that a landlord is not legally allowed to rent the apartment while another group is still renting it, the landlord is unable to intervene. Although a common practice, it is illegal and an abuse of Quebec tenants’ rights.

 

a, Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Research Briefs — Mar. 25

by Caity Hui on

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Drugs and Down syndrome

For the past 25 years, Roger Reeves, a professor and researcher at Johns Hopkins University, has been growing brains—in particular, the cerebellum. By targeting this area of the nervous system, Reeves hopes to develop a treatment for Down syndrome, a condition caused by inheriting a third copy of chromosome 21. Down syndrome is responsible for a variety of symptoms experienced by affected individuals, including cognitive delays, birth defects, and behavioural problems.

Reeves decided to target Down syndrome during his post-doctorate studies because of its complexity and the challenges it posed. Down syndrome patients have a significantly smaller cerebellum than the majority of the population—40 per cent less in many cases—that contributes to some of the developmental and behavioural problems experienced. In response, Reeves has been investigating compounds that promote growth of this portion of the brain.

Recently, the team discovered a small molecule that mimics growth factor, a hormone capable of stimulating cellular proliferation. Using mice engineered with a reduced cerebellum, the team injected this chemical on the day of their birth and observed as the affected part of the brain was entirely restored.

However, the team was surprised that in addition to the restored cerebellum, the mice improved their learning abilities. Three months after the treatment, they could successfully find their way to the end point platform of a water maze. This type of learning is associated with another aspect of the brain known as the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory formation. Although the researchers are unsure as to the exact effects of the drug on this part of the brain, they plan on conducting further research to better elucidate this observation.

“The possibility of actually giving Down syndrome people the ability to improve learning and memory significantly—that’s something that I never thought I’d see in my entire career,” said Reeves to Scientific American. “And it’s now happening. The game has changed.”

 

Google Glass improves medical care

The doctors in the emergency room of Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center beg a second glance—glaring above the sea of white lab coats are neon tinted Google Glasses.

Google Glass was developed in February 2013 and fits over the eyes like any pair of eyeglasses. However, unlike regular glasses, they are equipped with a camera and software that allows users to connect to the Internet, upload video, and open files, among other applications.

While Google Glass has many applications, groups of doctors are trying to integrate this technology into the medical workplace. One such doctor is Van Lancker, an orthopedic surgical resident at the Montreal General hospital. Two years ago, he wrote a letter to Google after learning about its Google Glass Explorer program.

As one of 10,000 individuals accepted into the program, Lancker is trying to push the boundaries as to how Google Glass can be used in hospitals. Rather than focusing on patient care, he is currently trying to determine its application in the operating room.

To date, Lancker foresees glass playing a critical role in mobile medicine. The technology would allow medical specialists in Montreal to assist doctors in remote communities, providing instructions in real time on how to perform more difficult procedures.

Lancker also envisions Google Glass as a key teaching tool. One of the problems faced with training medical residents is a lack of space in the operating room. Google Glass would provide students with the opportunity to view a video from the doctor’s perspective without being in the examination room—a valuable tool that would allow them to better visualize the procedure.

a, Opinion

Both a right and a responsibility

by Amina Moustaqim-Barrette on

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This question of the role of the anglophone students’ vote in Quebec provincial elections comes in the wake of accusations against the Parti Québécois for trying to bar anglophone participation in the upcoming elections.  Students are being turned away this year for insufficient proof of being “domiciled” in the province. While in the 2012 provincial election students were eligible to vote by showing up with photo ID and proof of residency for six months or more, they are now being asked for proof of permanent residency (a health card, driver’s license, etc). Though the details around these new rules remain unclear, this could mean that a large majority of out-of-province students will be systematically barred from voting in the upcoming election.

For the past week, I have had several conversations about whether out-of-province students should be able to participate in the provincial elections. Quite a few people have argued that because many anglophone students are out-of-province, and because many out-of-province students will only be staying in Quebec for four years and then leaving, they should not be entitled to the vote. While this is true, and while many of these students are not invested in Quebec’s future after their studies, I can’t help but think back to the 2012 election and how drastically that has affected students in the past couple of years.  People who were students in 2012 and are still studying have been directly affected by the results of those elections, including decisions the PQ government has made on university funding.

Given the nature and fluidity of political change, I think that it is imperative that any student residing in another province for school has the opportunity to have their voice heard. If the decision made in this election has anywhere as drastic an impact on students as it did in 2012, I would argue that it is the right and responsibility of every student to go out and vote.

Amina Moustaqim-Barrette is the SSMU VP External elect.

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