Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds

SSMU’s endorsement of MUNACA, Teaching Assistants’ contract negotiations, and a proposal to replace tenants of the Shatner cafeteria were on the agenda at the  first SSMU legislative council of the year, held last Thursday.

The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) presented on Teaching Assistants’ ongoing contract negotiations with McGill and were invited back to speak at additional councils.

During the meeting, SSMU announced its intention to seek new tenants for the second floor cafeteria of the Shatner Building. Potential tenants include Lola Rosa, Burritoville, Green Panther, and Thali.

“This was a perfect opportunity to go for smaller businesses that are more student-friendly,” Shyam Patel, VP Finance and Operations, said in a follow-up interview.

The Society also passed a resolution in support of MUNACA and a speedy resolution of the strike. This differs from the SSMU executive’s previous endorsement of the union via email and on its website; the motion now backs MUNACA on behalf of the Society’s entire membership.

There seemed to be tension between the promises of transparency and consultation—two buzzwords frequently used by the current executive—and the importance of a speedy resolution to the strike. Motions were made to table the resolution until subsequent legislative meetings, citing insufficient student consultation. This was countered by representatives from the faculties of Engineering and Medicine, among others, whose constituents have been particularly affected by the strikes in terms of research, labs, and their graduation schedule.

“We did not table this motion because we believed that it was more important [to pass it, given] the time constraint, but I believe that more extensive student consultation would [result in] a more well-rounded resolution,” Arts Councillor Isabelle Bi said in a follow-up interview. She’d been in support of gathering more information on student support for MUNACA. She also thought  representatives of MUNACA and the McGill administration should have been invited, as with the AGSEM representatives, before passing the resolution.    

Within the resolution was a clause devoting SSMU’s research resources “to gathering and compiling information relevant to the strike.” According to VP External Joël Pedneault, this will involve researching and gathering information on McGill’s budget, which he maintains will be beneficial for SSMU’s constituents in the long run.

“There’s not a lot of coherent information out there about what real financial pressures McGill is facing,” Pedneault said. “I think that’s something that could be really valuable to have a very nuanced [and] detailed understanding of.”

The researcher is a permanent staff member who normally works on “the political issues of the day,” said Pedneault. “If there were no MUNACA strike … he would be working on an external policy related to government policy on post-secondary education, which ties into what financial pressure McGill faces.”

The debate eventually ended and the resolution passed in what Pedneault called a symbolic gesture. Councillor Bi disagreed with the urgency of the resolution’s passing.

“[The] SSMU executive has already discussed and delivered a public statement about MUNACA … [That] is enough for us to wait two more weeks and really talk to our constituents and individual respective legislative councils and get a broader sense of [where] students stand on this issue [before passing the resolution].”

This concern regarding insufficient consultation is salient as this resolution speaks for all of SSMU’s membership. Both Pedneault and Bi recognized this and spoke out in favour of increased consultation.

“Constituents should talk to their representative honestly and frankly … if there’s enough evidence [that students do not support the resolution], we can bring this up again in a different council.” Bi said. “I encourage everyone to write in: for, against, neutral … just so we can get a clear student message about this strike.”

“This is still a discussion. I don’t think the motion was intended to put a period at the end of a sentence,” Pedneault said. “If people disagree with [the resolution], then that’s a discussion that needs to happen. The forums we have for that are Council & the General Assembly.”

This year’s first General Assembly will be held Monday, Sept. 26.

ipolitics.ca

On September 12, NDP President Brian Topp launched his campaign for leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada.  Topp’s announcement kick-started the leadership race to select a Leader of the Opposition, who will be elected at a leadership convention in March 2012.

Topp graduated with a BA from McGill ’83 and chaired an NDP campaign in 1988. After a few years in Saskatchewan’s provincial politics, he returned to the federal stage, most recently serving as Jack Layton’s Senior Advisor during the 2011 election campaign. This past June, Topp was elected party president.

Topp’s background shows his skill at organizing on both the party and government level, explained Richard Schultz, Chair of the McGill Department of Political Science and an expert in Canadian politics.   

“Topp seems to have incredible experience in terms of not just the backroom of the NDP but also working with the government, in particular the government of Saskatchewan,” Schultz said. “More so than Pierre Trudeau or Brian Mulroney [at the time of their election as party leaders], he’s familiar with how decisions are made and the difficulties of making decisions.”

Jimmy Gutman, U1 Canadian Studies, is a member of NDP McGill and noted that although Topp has demonstrated strong leadership in the past, his position in the race is hard to evaluate without knowing who he is running against.

“He had support one time and he might have it again,” Gutman said. “But we don’t have all the names yet, so it’s hard to give a holistic judgment of the leadership race.”

For Schultz, Topp’s lack of experience within the House of Commons as an elected Member of Parliament is a drawback.

“My preference is for people to have been elected and served in the House of Commons before becoming party leader,” Schultz said. “Like in the case of Trudeau or Mulroney, the impression that you don’t have to be a Member of Parliament [to be party leader] suggests that parliament is not that important, and I think parliamentary experience should be important.”

To fill the power vacuum left by Layton, an ideal candidate for the NDP would need to be fully bilingual and appeal to the average voter, both Schultz and Gutman said.

“The ideal candidate also has to have the skin of a crocodile, because the Conservatives are nasty fighters,” Schultz added. “Already, they are trying to label Topp as a tool of the union movement and to portray him as a man who represents only minority interests. [The next NDP leader] will need to be thick-skinned and willing to fight hard.”

In the interim, the main challenge for the NDP will be avoiding polarization within the party. The leadership contest could potentially lead to party members differing in their policy suggestions.    

“The key thing for a political party in the opposition is that it not be taking three or four positions on any one issue, because the government would pounce on them and show that they’re divided and not capable of governing,” Schultz said. “So it’s going to be very important for them over the next six months to be as coherent and united as possible. In the House of Commons they’re going to have to speak as much as possible with one voice.”

McGill alumnus and recently elected NDP MP Matthew Dubé acknowledged the need for party unity during the leadership race.

“I think that at the end of the day, our goal is to make sure that, rather than be something divisive, this is a discussion of ideas,” he said. “No matter which candidate you support or who endorses who, everyone’s goal is to form an NDP government in four years.”

Students and faculty members grabbed placards and joined MUNACA at the intersection of McGill College and Sherbrooke on Friday morning in what was the largest and loudest rally to date.  The protesters, who occupied half a block of McGill College, chanted and cheered while speakers addressed the crowd from a stage.

MUNACA’s President, Kevin Whittaker, was joined by a representative of the McGill Faculty Labour Action Group (MFLAG), who told MUNACA workers, “You are truly indispensable.”

After a strike mandate from their members, which passed with an overwhelming 88 per cent, MUNACA joined the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), an umbrella labour union, under a service contract and began the strike on Sept. 1.  David Kalant, Vice President of Finance for MUNACA, cites PSAC’s support as indispensable to the strike. “We’ve been, up until recently, a completely independent union and we really thought we didn’t have the strength to make a major push for what we think is fair, even to support a strike if necessary,” he said.

Members of the Mobilization Committee, also known as the ‘Mob Squad,’ an informal organization of students whose mandate is to support mobilization efforts on campus, were also in attendance.

“We’re primarily interested in defending student rights, but that encompasses, in our view, solidarity with workers,” said Niko Block, campaign coordinator for SSMU and member of the Mobilization Committee. “We just want to do enough damage to the McGill name, we want to do enough damage to the McGill brand, that they will start to realize it’s no longer in their interest either [to withhold from MUNACA’s demands].”

Should the strike stretch into the coming months, continued Block, the Mobilization Committee would continue their support of MUNACA through various demonstrations.

Students weren’t the only non-MUNACA members in attendance.  MFLAG, whose members cheered alongside MUNACA staff and students, is made up of approximately 40 faculty members who banded together two weeks ago in an organized effort to show support for the strikers.  “We’re going to show our coworkers that we stand with them and they have a right to a fair and just contract,”  said Derek Nystrom, an Associate Professor in the English Department whose research has been affected by the strike. The McGill administration maintained in an email to the student body that MUNACA’s package is, altogether, similar to that of support staff at other universities in Quebec.

Michelle Hartman, a member of MFLAG and an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, began the semester by teaching a first-year seminar course off campus in an effort to avoid crossing the MUNACA picket lines, an action that she and the chair of the Islamic Studies department had believed to be acceptable under McGill’s legislation. Her salary was threatened by the administration and as a result she returned to teaching her class on campus.

“The Dean of Arts…said to me directly, that if I was saying that I would not cross a picket line to teach a class, it meant I was not crossing a picket line for any reason, therefore I was not performing my academic duties and I would not be paid,” said Hartman.

Christopher Manfredi, Dean of Arts, responded to Hartman’s case by citing the University Policy on the Non-Performance of Academic Duties During a Legal Strike, which stipulates that Professors must fulfil all of their academic duties during a strike in order to receive their full salaries.

“With respect to teaching, professors cannot work around this rule by moving their courses off campus during a strike,” said Manfredi in an email.  He added that students in classes being taught off campus had been unable to return to campus in time for other classes.

A communiqué was issued to all academic staff this week on behalf of Provost Anthony Masi stating that “the University has an obligation to deliver classes in a location that is least disruptive for students” and that off-campus locations would not be covered under McGill’s insurance policy, increasing the risk for students.

Allegations of scab workers on campus surfaced last week. According to MUNACA President Kevin Whittaker, a report by officials from the Quebec Labour Commission, who are investigating the use of casual employees to replace MUNACA workers, will be released at the end of the week.

“That report has been submitted to the labour board and it should be brought to us by Friday.”

Ryan Reisert

A lively combination of drumming, dancing, and booths adorned with native art drew a large crowd to Lower Field on Friday.

“I was just coming from my bio lab, and I heard all of the music, so I came by to check it out,” said Kevin Dick, a U1 biology major making his way through the festivities.

The spectacle was McGill’s tenth annual powwow, an event put on each year by the school’s First Peoples’ House to educate McGillians about Canadian aboriginal heritage.

“I think it’s perfect,” Dick said of the event. “It’s a good way to get people out [and] introduce them to this type of culture.”

This year’s powwow was part of a broader, week-long project: the university’s first ever Aboriginal Awareness Week (AAW), which ran from Sept. 12 to 15.

Aboriginal Awareness Week is intended to provide greater opportunities for non-aboriginal students to learn about and engage in aboriginal traditions.

According to the Arts Undergraduate Society, the focus of the week was to showcase First Nations cultures and values in a manner that encouraged collaboration with partners in the community.

“This week-long event also stems from a broader effort to increase both understanding of and appreciation for aboriginal perspectives and values in higher learning institutions,” read a promotion in last week’s AUS listserv.

Paige Isaac, co-ordinator of the First Peoples’ House and chief planner for the project, stressed the importance of the aboriginal community’s presence on campus for more than just one day a year.

“With four days of events, we wanted to target the whole campus to learn about different issues other than just dancing and singing,” Isaac said.

All events were free and open to the public, and included two nights of music and spoken word from aboriginal artists, a stone carving workshop, a media panel on representations of aboriginals in public spaces, a book reading by broadcast journalist Waubgeshig Issac, as well as a closing feast. The finale was a  powwow on lower field.

Supporters of the project included the First Peoples’ House, the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE), the Office of the Dean of Students (represented by the Aboriginal Outreach Coordinator) and the Office of Sustainability at McGill.

“The school has always been very open and well-receiving of our people,” said Lance Delisle, the powwow’s MC. “Every single year it’s very well received and that attests to McGill University and exactly what type of school this is: very diverse and open to new ideas.”

The First Peoples’ House plans to keep the momentum of Aboriginal Awareness Week going with a series of monthly events. The next one will be held in October.

“We want to meet as many students as we can and we want everyone to share and learn and engage,” said Isaac.

politwitter.ca

The McGill Tribune sat down with Matthew Dubé, who found himself thrown into Ottawa’s political arena after his surprise victory in last May’s election, to discuss Jack Layton’s legacy and the future of the NDP.  A former McGill student, he spent the summer between his constituency and Ottawa, preparing for the first session of Parliament which opened this week.

What was it like working with Jack Layton? How will Jack’s vision and values continue with the party?

One of the great things I’ll always remember is how he treated everyone with the same sort of respect, and as someone who’s younger than the average politician, I really saw that. In the first conversation I ever had with him, before I was even a candidate, I got to speak to him for a good 15 minutes. For a leader of a federal party, that’s precious time. At the same time, you know he left us with a great project to continue with. None of us expect to fill his shoes and I don’t think any of us want to either, we have to take our own shoes and continue on the path he set us on.

How does the NDP feel about the Conservatives’ renewal of their anti-terrorism legislation?

First of all, we find the comments Stephen Harper made on The National referring to “Islamicism” as a major threat to Canada absolutely shameful. Security is important for the NDP, but at the same time there’s nothing indicating that we’re at risk in any way and right now people’s priorities are issues like the economy, especially job creation and security. We feel these security issues are non-existent and it’s divisive politics, plain and simple. The Omnibus Crime bill, jokingly referred to as the Big Brother Bill, is problematic and illustrates that Conservatives’ priorities are out of whack.

Have you formally endorsed an NDP leadership candidate?

For myself I think that it’s a bit early to say. Leadership was obviously on people’s minds [at the NDP’s general caucus] in Quebec City. We are potentially going to be supporting different candidates but no one has a problem with that. From feedback I’ve been getting in my riding there’s a lot of hope in Quebec that Thomas Mulcair will present himself as a candidate. As for my own personal endorsement, I’m definitely going to see once all the candidates are there and official, and I can make the decision then.

What do you see as challenges for the NDP stemming from the Leadership race?

At the end of the day our goal is to make sure that rather than be something divisive that this be a discussion of ideas. Lots of candidates do have connections to Quebec, which is a natural consequence of the breakthrough that happened in this province in the last election. Thomas Mulcair and Brian Topp, like Jack Layton, are McGill graduates. I compare the process to a family debate at the dinner table about politics. It can get heated at times and not everybody necessarily agrees 100 per cent but at the end of the day it’s shared values, it’s a family and we definitely want to be in government in four years so we’re all going to work together.

Do you feel you and your peers’ electoral success says something about youth empowerment and breaking out of the mould that young people, especially those who want to get into politics, find themselves in?

People had some reservations about the number of young people who got elected—and that’s fair.  At the same time [we younger MPs know] that we’re hard workers, that we can have just as much a say and impact as someone from another generation. At the end of the day, it’s up to us to show that to people. It never hurts to have a new set of eyes on the problems we face as a society. We want to show people that young people can people work positively in this environment and contribute in an important and positive way.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

—Compiled by Anand Bery

A report published earlier this month by the Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OFQL) stated that in 20 years, French will be a minority language on the Island of Montreal. According to the report, only 47.4 per cent of those living in Montreal will speak French at home by 2031, compared with 54 per cent in 2006. Montreal’s recent influx of immigrants is likely the major factor behind the decline of the French language in the city.  However, both Premier Jean Charest and McGill Professor Charles Boberg, a sociolinguist, caution that these numbers should be taken in the context of the greater Montreal area, and Quebec as a whole.  

Boberg explained that immigration keeps Quebec’s population numbers from dropping.

“Quebec francophones, like Canadian anglophones and most western Europeans, have seen a dramatic drop in the birth rate owing to a number of social and cultural changes that have been developing since the 1960s,” Boberg said.

Booming immigration has forced Quebec to face problems of integration, and encouraging immigrants to speak French is a top priority for the Quebec government and the OFQL.  

 According to several Montreal residents, this policy appears to be working. An IT consultant for Accenture, the world’s largest consultancy firm, works almost exclusively in French while speaking her native Tamil at home.  

“I was brought up speaking Tamil and English at home, but I went to French school and learned French,” the consultant, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “Now I teach French and all my nieces and nephews speak French, because … the younger generation is speaking French.”  

However, this move towards French is not universal. Saddiq Akbar, who works in McGill food services and owns a restaurant on Saint-Laurent, never learned French and has been getting along very well living in Montreal for the past 13 years after moving here from Pakistan.  

“It’s good to know other languages, but practically if you want a job you should know English. I own a restaurant and in four years I’ve lost business maybe two or three times because I don’t speak French. Before I came over I was worried it would be hard because I didn’t know any French but my in-laws said it was fine and it has been,” Akbar said.

Premier Charest, in his response to the study, claims that most immigrants do learn and are in fact speaking French, thanks to the Charter of the French Language instituted in 1977.  

Newcomers to Montreal tend to install themselves among others who share their language, customs, religion, and food.  On the other hand, an expanding group of middle-class Francophone families is leaving Montreal for the suburbs of Laval, the North Shore, and the South Shore.

As for the future of a French Quebec, Professor Boberg cautions that there is a big difference between the island of Montreal and Quebec at large.  

“Let’s remember that Montreal and Quebec are very different: as soon as you move a few kilometers away from Montreal, Quebec is 95 per cent francophone, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon.  The large anglo populations that were once found in the Gaspe, Quebec City, the Eastern Townships, and even the Outaouais are now effectively gone.”

theworldmarch.org

The annihilation of the human race by nuclear war is probably not something that has been on the average student’s mind since the end of the Cold War. But according to Douglas Roche, it should be.   

Roche, a former MP, Senator, Canadian Diplomat, and anti-nuclear weapons activist, recently gave a speech at McGill as part of a speaking tour of 23 universities across Canada.  

“I want students of today’s generation to understand the nature of the nuclear weapons problem, what is being done about it, and what they can do about it too,” Roche said.   

Roche noted that the issue of nuclear weapons has fallen to the wayside, especially among those too young to remember the Cold War. He strongly emphasized that the issue of nuclear weapons is still of great importance.

“Nuclear security is as relevant today as it was in the Cold War,” Roche said. “It would be foolhardy to think that everything will be fine in a nuclear world because it very well might not be.”   

Lack of public consciousness over the issue of nuclear safety, according to Roche, could have disastrous consequences. At the beginning of his speech, Roche held up an apple and explained that an apple-sized amount of enriched plutonium was enough to cause huge destruction and an inestimable loss of life.  

He also elaborated on the theft of nuclear materials and the risk this might pose.

“However tightly nuclear materials are guarded today, they are not guarded tightly enough,” Roche said.

The event was organized by the Montreal branch of the Canadian International Council (CIC), an organization committed to bringing international issues such as nuclear proliferation to the forefront of Canadian politics.   

The event coordinator, Kyle Matthews, was delighted that the Honourable Douglas Roche had time to speak with the CIC and with students.  

“We’re always looking to bring in interesting, high level speakers … I thought it was very important that we invite him to talk about our nuclear security and safety disarmament to our membership,” Matthews said.   

While the event was designed for the general public, many McGill students attended, including Shehryar Heider, U1. Heider was not sure what to expect of the event at first, but found it informative and interesting.   

“When I looked at the notice outside, it said [the topic] was ‘Nuclear Weapons,'” Heider said. “I was pretty interested because it’s a very radical topic, especially in Pakistan, where I come from. It’s a topic that has raised quite a lot [of conversation] because we have nuclear weapons and it’s an issue that does have controversy, and I wanted to see what Douglas Roche had to say.”  

“I found the task of how to raise the issue amongst the younger generation important,” Heider added. “We should know the kind of dangers that are associated with nuclear weapons.”  

Roche was enthusiastic about speaking to students.  

“I’m happy to speak at McGill,” Roche said, adding that he hopes students came away with “a better understanding of the danger the world faces with the continuation of nuclear weapons and how the movement to abolish nuclear weapons is gaining strength in the world.”