On Oct. 30, the second Montreal Summit on Innovation, provided an opportunity for McGill and the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS) to present the Quartier de l’Innovation (QI) project to experts on innovative districts.

The QI is a joint venture between McGill and ÉTS, an engineering school in Montreal that plans to spearhead development in Montreal’s Griffintown district. According to Vice-Principal (External Relations) Olivier Marcil, the project aims to merge “social and technological innovation with entrepreneurship” in an environment that promotes interaction and innovation between McGill and ÉTS researchers, private businesses, and artists.

The QI

Vice-Principal (Research and International Relations) Rose Goldstein first announced the QI initiative to the McGill community during the February session of Senate, the highest academic body at the university. According to Marcil, McGill and ÉTS hope to launch the project in early 2013.

“A massive restructuring is already under way, with $2.5 billion already invested and commitment of up to $6 billion over the next 10 years,” Marcil said. “Our aim for the QI is to build on this momentum, together with the stakeholders, to create a district that celebrates social innovation, as well as diversity in the arts, culture, and ideas.”

Marcil noted that the QI is a long-term project. It will be fully operational in about 10 years.

To date, the project has received support from all three levels of government, which together contributed up to $1 million to research the feasibility of the project. McGill and ÉTS also received an additional federal grant of $25 million that will go towards research on second generation biofuels—fuels that do not compete with agricultural commodities such as corn.

“Our goal is to develop the knowledge, tools, and programs so that in the next 10 to 20 years, 25 per cent of fuels in the country are composed of biofuels,” he said.

Role of the City of Montreal

The City of Montreal is playing a major role in the development of infrastructure in Griffintown. On Oct. 18, the City of Montreal launched a special urban planning program (PPU) for the district, including a pledge to spend $93 million in infrastructure over the next four years. The urban plan also includes the creation of six new public green spaces and a “Cultural Corridor” on Ottawa Street.

Though the announcement comes months after the QI idea was proposed, François Goneau, director of communications for the City of Montreal, told the Tribune that the City’s plan to invest in the area was not directly related to the QI project.

“Planned investments in the sector are above all related to obligations of the City to establish in Griffintown the conditions that will make the environment one of high quality,” Goneau said in French. “It must be remembered that the urban plan adopted in 2004 identified the area of Griffintown as a detailed planning area—the mixed use of urban spaces and the importance of residential use as an engine of revitalization were clearly announced.”

Consultation and criticisms

As Griffintown is a low-income neighbourhood, one of the major concerns surrounding the project is that the real estate development will lead to gentrification in the district of the South-West borough.

Marcil explained that McGill and ÉTS created a liaison group that aims to mitigate the effects of real estate development in the area. The 20-person group is composed of citizen representatives, real estate developers, and members of McGill, ÉTS, the City of Montreal, and the borough.

“In addition to consultation with community members, the QI plan currently aims to have at least 15 to 20 per cent of low-income apartments to avoid gentrification,” Yves Beauchamp, CEO of ÉTS, said.

“Already in that area, there is a population of artists, and we don’t want them to leave the area,” he continued. “We want to create a place where a creative community will [be] established and, with the presence of university [and] enterprise, we will come up and [interact with] the creative community in a way that will be [conducive] to the development of innovation.”

Andy Pratt, a professor at King’s College London who attended the summit, criticized the summit’s emphasis on investment in infrastructure, and advised that the organizers focus on the creative aspect of the innovative district.

“It’s not the real estate that makes this work… the real estate is a part, but not the most important part,” Pratt said. “It’s very important to go beyond simply the physical design of these places and to think much more carefully about how to construct an ecology of creative and innovative firms.”

Last Thursday, SSMU Legislative Council passed a motion to endorse a referendum question that would increase the fee levy for the McGill Student Emergency Response Team (M-SERT), but did not endorse a question on Radio CKUT’s fee increase.

Councillors also discussed the four nonbinding motions passed by the Oct. 15 SSMU General Assembly (GA) after losing quorum.

The vote to endorse CKUT’s question—which asks for a $1 increase in its opt-outable fee—fell short of the required majority, with 11 councillors for, 11 against, and four abstentions.

CKUT is a non-profit campus-community radio station based on the McGill campus. According to SSMU Vice-President Clubs and Services Allison Cooper, an endorsement of CKUT’s referendum question could help raise student awareness of the radio station’s status as a student group.

“I think it’s an important way for Council to help students navigate these confusing bureaucratic channels by lending legitimacy to questions that many students may not understand SSMU’s relevance to,” Cooper later told the Tribune.

Other councillors expressed concern over endorsing CKUT, even though a ‘No’ committee has yet to be formed for the question.

“Clearly some students feel one way and some feel the other way,” SSMU Vice-President Internal Michael Szpejda said. “So if we are picking one way, I don’t see how we are representing all of our constituents.”

Council decided to pass M-SERT’s motion after many councillors expressed their support. M-SERT is a student-run first aid service that provides emergency response in residences and on campus. M-SERT’s referendum question asks for a $0.50 increase in its fee.

“M-SERT is super important on this campus,” SSMU Clubs and Services Representative Zachary Rosentzveig said. “[The service] literally saves lives … they do amazing work with very little money.”

President Josh Redel pointed to the fact that M-SERT, unlike CKUT, is a SSMU service rather than an independent student group, and reminded Council that SSMU has a policy stating that clubs and services are the society’s highest priority.

Council also passed two out of four nonbinding GA motions, which were tabled at the last Council meeting due to a lack of clarity in SSMU’s by-laws. The by-laws in question dealt with the online ratification process for GA motions, which SSMU introduced this semester.

While the two motions passed when the GA had quorum went automatically to an online vote, the by-laws were not clear as to whether Council should treat the four nonbinding motions as GA motions—which are subject to online ratification—or  as Council motions.

Redel explained that the Steering Committee decided that the GA motions should be treated as Council motions, with the results deemed binding following a Council vote. Ratification of motions voted on by Council violate SSMU’s governing documents because Council would then assume the role of the GA.

Discussing the GA motions as Council motions allowed the vote to be binding, while including time for debate and amendments if necessary.

“[The] Steering Committee does recommend that Council operate under the direction that the consultative forum took on each motion … but we do welcome and encourage debate on the motions to help make them stronger, more powerful motions from Council,” Redel said.

Council passed the motion regarding SSMU’s support for accessible education and its opposition to the further development of the Canadian oil sands.

Council then tabled a motion regarding its opposition to Canadian military involvement in Iran, and a motion regarding opposition to Plan Nord. Some councillors suggested that a lack of knowledge made them more hesitant to take a stance on issues external to SSMU.

“I find it kind of bizarre that we are not provided with external information that is supposed to support these motions,” Arts Representative Nicole Georges said. “The point of our responsibility is to vote on motions that affect the student body as a whole, and yet we are being asked to do this with a tiny bit of knowledge. This seems to be very irresponsible and reckless.”

However, Arts Representative Claire Stewart-Kanigan disagreed with Georges’ concerns.

“There is no reason why you cannot go out and do this research yourself,” Stewart-Kanigan said. “We get these motions ahead of time … That’s your responsibility as a councillor.”

Council also passed a motion about creating a trial run for the Student Advocacy Resource Committee until March 2013. This committee, based on a group formerly known as the Independent Student Advocacy Service, is designed to help SSMU members access information and support to help effect change on campus through advocacy campaigns, research, and co-ordination with elected representatives.

Additionally, Council passed a motion regarding work on the upcoming McGill education summit. The motion mandates that SSMU will produce a document by the end of the semester after broad consultation with students and faculty student associations on the subject of education.