To coincide with the opening of a new year and school semester, SSMU has launched the SSMU Marketplace—an online resource designed to provide students with a new venue for the transaction of goods and services, including textbooks, furniture, tutoring services, and housing.

SSMU VP Finance and Operations Shyam Patel was the driving force behind the site’s launch.  

“Our hope is that this forum will become a place where students can buy and sell items, in addition to having the ability to provide the SSMU with feedback so we can continue to revamp according to the needs of our students,” Patel said. 

As a resource for student transactions, the Marketplace follows previous SSMU services that sold books on consignment, such as Haven Books—closed in 2010 because of its large financial losses —and the short-lived SSMU Book Bazaar. 

“Haven Books was not financially viable and the Book Bazaar was a daunting service to maintain from a managerial standpoint,” Patel said. “The Marketplace, however, is an online space rather than a physical location. This forum, I believe, is robust both in terms of financial stability and management.” 

By moving online, SSMU Marketplace faces competition for users from established international classifieds resources like Craigslist, as well as those already directed towards McGill users like McGill Classifieds, a free service offered by the administration. Despite this, Patel thinks there is room for SSMU Marketplace.

“Craigslist is not tailored to the McGill community and the McGill Classifieds is not as user-friendly,” Patel explained. “With a fresh, professional look, the Marketplace is easier to use and navigate through.” 

Many students agree with the value of bringing SSMU services to the Internet, but some are confused about the need for an additional classifieds website. 

“You have to make it different [from McGill Classifieds] in some way,” Christy Frost, U1 English, said. “Otherwise it’s just making the whole process less efficient because people have to check two sites now.”  

Student users of SSMU Marketplace have had mixed reactions to the service.  

“I think this is a good opportunity for the McGill community to have a more modern interface and interactive community in which to post classified ads,” Justin Fletcher, U2 East Asian studies, said. “[But] I believe that the sign-up process and the need for approval will make it a more cumbersome option vis-à-vis McGill Classifieds.” 

In the end, however, Fletcher says his decision to use the service was based on his need to find a buyer for his textbook. 

“I am not using SSMU Marketplace in lieu of McGill Classifieds; rather, I am using it in tandem to ensure that my book is sold as quickly as possible,” he said. 

SSMU is not yet able to track the number of page views the Marketplace receives, but other statistics indicate its use among the student population. According to Patel, 147 books were posted from Jan. 5 to Jan. 12, and the website included 214 advertisements in total. More than 100 students have signed up for the Marketplace.  

In comparison, nearly 3,400 advertisements for textbooks alone were posted on McGill Classifieds over the same period of time. However, many students are still unaware of the Marketplace’s existence.  

“I would definitely check it out,” Samantha Baribeault, a U1 engineering student, said. “But to be useful it definitely has to be better advertised so people will post books and know it is a reliable source.” 

Patel remains hopeful for the future of the Marketplace. 

“We are positive that with more promotion, this number will increase over the months and will substantially grow over the years, especially if we market the service in a manner that is consistent and effective,” he said. 

McGill student Zach Paikin (U3 Middle East studies) ran for National Policy Chair of the Liberal Party of Canada. He was defeated by Maryanne Kampouris in the vote last weekend. The Tribune caught up with Paikin last week before the convention to discuss his vision for the future of the Liberal Party, his work with campus media, and how he feels about the recent surge in young people involved in Canadian politics.  

How can the Liberal Party better appeal to Canadians? What needs to change?

There are so many things that need to change, but number one is we need a generational shift. And it’s a must. Number two—we’ve got to create the most open political party in Canadian history. I’d like to see that reflected in natural steps to either open up our policy process or our membership. If it empowers the liberal—and I mean small liberal—grassroots of our party, then it’s a good thing, and that’s what we should be basing our decisions on. 

What do you think both the recent election of the NDP Four, as well as the two other policy chair candidates under 25, say about youth involvement in Canadian politics?

I’m always glad to see young people get involved in Canadian politics, although I should state that there’s a big difference between people like [both] Braeden Caley and myself, who are young Liberals and have been campaigning from coast to coast and know the issues and have been meeting with grassroots liberals, versus people who didn’t even step foot in their ridings over the course of their entire campaign and got caught up in a big wave … If you know the issues, if you’re passionate about it, if you really run a hard campaign, then you deserve to be elected. … You’re supposed to know the issues that are plaguing your constituents, [and] … representing your constituents in Ottawa. [These MPs] are now sent to Ottawa, and I don’t think many of them are necessarily qualified to be Members of Parliament. 

Surely many of the new young NDP MPs put considerable effort into campaigning.

If you’re talking about the McGill Four—not in their ridings—no. They might have campaigned for Thomas Mulcair, but not in their own ridings. We have a system deliberately, because in our country we are a vast, diverse country, we determined we need a political system that enables local representation. That’s the entire idea. It’s not some national list like the NDP wants.  

Based on the results of the last election, do you think Canadians maybe feel now that federal politics aren’t territorial? That the leader of the party is now the driving factor?

I think what there has been unfortunately, and tragically, is a centralization of power as this has been the case over several consecutive administrations, Liberal and Conservative alike. But it has extended and accelerated massively under the Harper government—the centralization of power in the Prime Minister’s  Office.    

I’m a little bit concerned as to how far that centralization has gone. I hope that there are ways—and I think the Liberal party will be able to provide ways—to stop that and change that. We’re now in a situation where one man who’s simply one member of Parliament out of the 308 [members], has the power to unilaterally shut down the people’s parliament. Set the country back a lot, shut down the Senate, shut down the House of Commons, shut down the foundation of democracy if he’s facing a confidence motion he’s afraid he might lose. That’s really scary. 

Tell me about your column in the Prince Arthur Herald, which some classify as a “small-c conservative” newspaper. 

There are many card-carrying Liberal party members who wrote for the Herald, even a few card-carrying NDP members who were part of the Herald. You can call the Herald a small-c conservative newspaper because of its editorial stance, but it doesn’t censor its columnists. There needs to be a forum on campus for members of all political stripes to express themselves and engage in civil discourse and dialogue … I’m also not very encouraged by the fact that there has been this rise of inappropriate behaviour and physical intimidation from the radical left, and I’m glad there’s a newspaper out there like the Herald that anyone can write for and not be afraid to express their opinion. Civil discourse and dialogue are pillars of liberal society; it’s not a conservative thing alone.

This interview has been condensed and edited. The views in this interview represent the opinions of the subject and not necessarily those of the McGill Tribune.

—Compiled by Anand Bery

The release of Dean Jutras’ report on the events of Nov. 10 was the main focus of the SSMU Legislative Council last Thursday. While slow initially, discussion branched off into varied opinions of the report itself and how SSMU should move forward. 

Several councilors and executives said that while they felt that the report was somewhat helpful, it was also rather vague and did not provide explicit direction for further action. However, there was also a general consensus that this was a fair expectation given the Dean’s role, and would have even been inappropriate if he had proposed otherwise.  

 “When I first read [it], I read the recommendations and I thought they were pretty fluffy,” Law Councilor Ian Clarke said during Council. “But upon further review I thought it would have been inappropriate for the Dean […] to make a unilateral recommendation.”  

One notable objection to the report, brought forward by SSMU VP University Affairs Emily Clare, was the lack of a student-focused perspective, given that the primary victims were students, as well as the missing testimony of Professor Greg Mikkelson, who was pepper sprayed.  

“The report was commendable but it seemed to put the experience of students at the same level of everyone else,” Clare said. “I felt that the primary victims of Nov. 10th were students and I thought that that was underwritten. There [also] seemed to be a lack of the human aspect, the human kind of pain of Nov. 10.” 

The discussion then turned to what students should do in light of this report. Talks of dialogue surfaced all evening: councilors called for more dialogue with the administration, more dialogue about security, and more dialogue at the upcoming Senate meeting this Wednesday.  

Later, SSMU VP External Joël Pedneault suggested the possibility that SSMU take McGill to court. Currently, SSMU is collecting testimonials of students affected during the events of Nov. 10 to discern if such a course of action would be appropriate. 

“The intention is to see whether there is any possibility of launching individual or class action lawsuits against the university in order to obtain redress before a court of law,” Pedneault later explained in an email to the Tribune.  

Pedneault said that although discussions may be fruitful, going to court may end up being the necessary course of action, given past precedents and past discussions with the administration.  

“A potential benefit of a lawsuit would be to demonstrate without the shadow of doubt that certain things can in fact happen even in a place like McGill University,”  Pedneault wrote. “For example, McGill’s Security Services acted in a brutal manner towards students, but many people in the community are hesitant to accept this fact. Proving this fact in a public, official forum would help prevent this type of behaviour on the part of the university in the future.” 

Later that evening, Education Councilor Kady Paterson inquired about the nature of SSMU’s own security policy.  

“In the event that something happens in SSMU, we should have a plan,” Paterson said. 

In a follow-up meeting with the Tribune, SSMU President Maggie Knight explained that although SSMU has a general emergency plan, there is no specific plan regarding a potential occupation. The details of this plan were not disclosed because of security reasons.

Other events of note at Council included the report of the Community Engagement Committee to fund a Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) program for two internship positions with $5,000 drawn from funds provided by the new fifty cent student fee.  The Council voted to send the Community Engagement Committee back for further examination and provide details, especially within the hiring process.

“I think a more thorough examination of the proposal through CEC and further discussion with SEDE will be a good process and will set a strong precedent for future funding allocations from the Charity Committee,” Knight said.

The one notable omission from the agenda was the renegotiation of the Shatner lease. In November, Council voted against accepting the administration’s current lease proposal for the Shatner building.  

“The lease was discussed in the confidential portion of our meeting,” Knight later told the Tribune. “We provided the deputy provost with a lengthy memorandum in December outlining our concerns about the current lease proposal and suggesting ways to move forward, and, at Professor Mendelson’s recommendation, met again with Vilma Campbell, McGill’s negotiator, on Tuesday [Jan. 10]. Our lease committee will be meeting again this weekend and we have another meeting next Tuesday. Unfortunately I have no major progress to report at this time, but negotiations are continuing.”

Four discoveries by McGill University researchers placed in the top 10 discoveries by Quebec researchers in 2011, ranked by Quebec Science Magazine in its February 2012 issue.

The discoveries span a range of research fields from earth sciences to medicine. Assistant professor Laura Stone and her team from the faculty of dentistry conducted research at the Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain. Their research focused on the relationship between patients with chronic back pain and the corresponding regions in the brain which are subject to premature aging as a result of the pain.

“Up until [now] people thought that maybe the cells were all dying,” Stone explained. However, her research revealed that after undergoing surgery for back pain, a subset of patients had dramatic improvements, and consequently the changes in the brain were reversed. Moreover, the degree to which the aging was reversed often corresponded to the decrease in pain achieved by the surgery.

From the Faculty of Medicine, Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Research Institute, Vassilios Papadopoulos and his team developed a blood test which could potentially diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in the near future. This blood test would allow for earlier detection and treatment of the disease.

Orthopedic surgeons Paul Martineau and Edward Harvey from the faculty of medicine and the McGill University Health Centre collaborated with Louis-Philippe Lefebvre of the National Research Council of Canada to patent a new screw to treat broken bones. This screw, made from titanium foam, would replace the current stainless steel screws used for bone injury, thus allowing patients to heal faster.

Finally, from the department of Earth and planetary sciences and the faculty of science, Alfonso Mucci and his collaborators performed an in-depth evaluation of the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf. They evaluated the acidification levels of the bottom waters beginning from the 1930s up to today. In doing so, they established the vulnerability of the St. Lawrence waters and the impact on the local marine environment.

Stone spoke on the importance of awards like this, which bring current scientific discoveries to the attention of Quebecers. 

“I think it’s a great honour to have been selected,” Stone said. “I think it’s great that the magazine does this because it raises awareness. There’s really good science happening in Quebec and the fact that they do this just really makes people aware of that and builds public support for research.”

As the public ultimately funds this scientific research, Stone feels that public support and awareness is crucial. “It’s important … that there’s ways to communicate back to the public some of the progress that’s being made.”

She added that, for McGill, these results demonstrate their strong research program across many different fields.

Other schools with discoveries listed in the top 10 include École Polytechnique, Université de Montreal, Université du Quebec in Abiti-Témiscamingue, and Laval University. Readers can vote on Quebec Science’s website for the year’s number one discovery.

–Kyla Mandel

The McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) voted to accept a collective agreement with the McGill administration on Dec. 5. The union members had been on strike since Sept. 1, 2011 and had been without a labour contract since November 2010.

The five-year collective agreement was approved by 71.5 per cent of MUNACA members.

“The members read the agreement and were able to debate the main issues. Following a four-hour debate, they agreed to give the agreement their support,” Kevin Whittaker, president of MUNACA, said in a press release. “We are truly proud of the mobilization work by members since the start of the strike. Their motivation and determination were key to resolving this conflict.”

The agreement included a five year contract ending in November 2015, the gradual implementation of a salary scale by 2015, salary increases of between 8.6 per cent and 16 per cent during this period, and decision-making rights on the Pension and Benefits Committee.

“Being able to negotiate a five-year agreement instead of a three-year contract allowed us the necessary flexibility to both satisfy the Government of Quebec’s salary policy over the next three years, and meet many of the union’s demands,” Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration) Michael Di Grappa wrote in an email to students. “We are glad we were able to accomplish what we set out to do: negotiate a collective agreement that is fair, realistic, and sustainable in the context of the University’s financial situation.”

The strike left McGill University missing approximately half of its non-academic staff and as such, many university services were affected.

As the Winter 2012 semester begins, the McGill’s Strike Info for Students webpage reads, “While the strike is now over, many departments are facing backlogs and returning staff members need to get up to speed. Therefore, it will take some time for regular service levels to resume.”

–Kyla Mandel and Carolina Millán Ronchetti 

Dean of Law Daniel Jutras’ report on the events of Nov. 10 was made public on Dec. 15. The 60-page investigation, originally commissioned by Principal Heather Munroe-Blum in the days following the incident, sought to establish a record for what transpired that evening, and determine what led to the presence of riot police on McGill’s campus.

Over the course of the investigation, Jutras received over 150 written factual accounts and took as testimony over 45 hours of interviews from primary actors in the event. Some, but not all, of the 14 individuals who attempted to occupy the James Administration Building came forward and spoke with Jutras.

Among other recommendations, the report called for a revision of how McGill Security Services operates in situations of demonstrations and protests, and for clear guidelines stipulating how university authorities determine who has the power to call for police assistance.

The portfolio of University Safety (and Security Services) falls under the jurisdiction of Jim Nicell, VP University Services.

“I think that Dean Jutras’ report is an excellent account of the events of Nov. 10,” Nicell told the Tribune via email. “It is consistent with my own personal experience in the square on that evening.  Also, in terms of the recommendations that Dean Jutras made, I think that they are very sound and I certainly welcome them.”

In the weeks following Jutras’ appointment by Munroe-Blum to carry out the investigation, many on campus were apprehensive about having a member of McGill’s faculty carry out the investigation due to the potential bias. A group of students undertook their own investigation in parallel to Jutras’, calling themselves the Independent Student Inquiry.

In his report, Jutras acknowledged the work of the Independent Student Inquiry. Over the course of his own research, Jutras took account of the submissions and interviews that the student investigation had posted online.

Jutras’ report could not compel testimony or assign blame to individuals.

“The report was really limited by its terms of reference, which especially shows in its recommendations, (which some members of our team think could go more deeply into the issues involved),” Chris Bangs, a member of the Independent Student Inquiry, said via email.

“We think one very important and frustrating thing he did not mention in his report is that many students felt uncomfortable speaking with him and planned to boycott his investigation,” he said. “Some students only felt comfortable making their testimonies public after his investigation has finished.”

Maggie Knight, President of SSMU, shared her views on the report with the Tribune. SSMU reacted quickly in providing support to students in the aftermath of the riot police presence.

“The recommendations for greater communication are helpful, specifically in laying out key areas where communication must be improved,” she said. “However, I don’t know that the human impact on many students and other members of the McGill community was sufficiently conveyed … it doesn’t thoroughly address the level of damage done to the McGill community.”

Knight felt that the report could have better addressed the administration’s follow-up response to hurt, pepper-sprayed, and disturbed students, including bystanders caught up in the dispersion of the crowd by the police.

“Dean Jutras’ report says only that ‘the University should assess its own response to the events of Nov. 10 in terms of providing counselling and care to faculty, staff, and students in the days that followed,'” Knight said. “This does not provide guidance as to who should undertake such an assessment by what methodology, nor does it speak to what core values are at stake—namely, compassion for any member of our community who has been hurt.”

Jutras sees his report as merely the first step on the way to further discussion among groups on campus, namely the administration, students, and the community.

“I think the next step for the university is for people to read the report carefully, and to come up with their own sense of the events and to participate in the conversation that focuses on moving forward,” Jutras told the Tribune. “I think it’s fair to say that the factual account really is an effort to come up with facts and everybody here in the university setting will understand that there is some subjective perception, but I made as much of an effort as possible to come up with an objective statement of facts … reconciling different perspectives of what took place.”

“The factual account … forms a shared basis—I hope—for further deliberations. The recommendations are mine—I have to be conscious of the fact that there may be a wide range of different recommendations coming from all constituencies within the university that flow from the facts. If the community doesn’t think [my recommendations] aren’t the ones that need to be followed to learn from the events of Nov. 10, then the conversation should take place. We should really be talking about what we make of these facts and … now is the time to hear different voices.”