Two prominent cultural critics squared off at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, arguing about—and, more often than not, agreeing on—how best to promote the arts in Montreal.

The debate, hosted by McGill and The Walrus, a monthly publication that fancies itself “Canada’s Best Magazine,” was planned to focus on the merits of the Quartier des Spectacles, a cultural district anchored by Place des Arts that the City of Montreal has been developing for years.

But the participants—Witold Rybczynski, a University of Pennsylvania School of Design professor, and Simon Brault, the CEO of the National Theatre School and a vice-chair of the Canada Council for the Arts—often veered off in other directions, commenting on more general issues of culture.

Rybczynski, for instance, who is also Slate’s architecture critic, kicked off the debate by commenting on a ranking of world cities compiled by Foreign Policy magazine, on which Montreal ranked 31st.

In the subset of visual and performing arts, however, the city came in fourth in the world. This, Rybczynski said, was evidence that Montreal had little to worry about in terms of culture.

“What does it take to build a cultural metropolis?” he asked, referring to the debate’s theme. “We are a cultural metropolis. It doesn’t take anything to build it. We’ve done it.”

Both men have roots in Montreal—Brault is the head of Culture Montreal and Rybczynski is a McGill alumnus—and they came close to agreement on one of the debate’s main topics: the value of designated cultural districts in cities.

“I don’t think cultural districts are a good idea,” Rybczynski said. “I don’t think it’s an organic way for cities to grow. It’s a kind of warmed-over idea from the 1960s.”

Brault agreed on this point, complaining that most such districts were artificial and instituted from the top down. But the two men disagreed on whether or not the Quartier des Spectacles fit this stereotype. The Quartier, Brault said, had been a cultural centre for more than a century. The construction of new venues there will simply emphasize this, he argued.

The Quartier des Spectacles, he added, is “not something that has been created as a theme park, as a Disney, in the middle of Montreal.”

Rybczynski, however, seemed lukewarm to the idea. Some of the most successful cultural meccas, he noted, such a Broadway in New York, had emerged organically over many years.

“Broadway is an idea,” he said, “and I think the problem with politicians is that they take an idea and then they make it literal.”

One of Rybczynski’s main objections to planned cultural districts was the planner-imposed uniformity.

In Washington, D.C., for instance, Rybczynski serves on the Commission of Fine Arts, which reviews the designs of federal buildings. Graphic designers, he said, often want put up signs in front of the buildings with standardized designs—even though most of these buildings have their names carved over the entrances. This, he argued, makes cities feel more like theme parks than organic places.

Several years ago in Washington, Rybczynski added with a laugh, the National Park Service tried to place a sign in front of the Washington Monument to identify it—exactly the type of theme park signage he was railing against.

Brault insisted, however, that Montreal’s version of the cultural district would be different.

“I hope that the Quartier des Spectacles will never be a place where we try to establish standards and make it all beautiful and perfect,” Brault said. “I hope it won’t be like that, and it’s not like that now.”

While most students are looking forward to a relaxing summer, the incoming Students’ Society executive is hard at work.  Maggie Knight, Shyam Patel, Emily Clare, Carol Fraser, Joël Pedneault, and Todd Plummer will be training until June 1, when they will officially assume their positions.

Current SSMU President Zach Newburgh said he has already begun helping  Maggie Knight prepare for the transition.

“I’ve been working with Maggie a lot, to introduce her to people in SSMU and outside, getting her involved in how things are run at McGill with the administration and its inner workings,” Newburgh said.

“Most of [the president’s] time is taken up with meetings because [he or she] sits on a lot of different boards and committees, but they also are responsible for the HR within SSMU, hiring and firing and making everyone successful and getting involved in all the portfolios,” he added.

Knight has already been actively involved with preparing for her new position, even though the transition period officially starts in May. She said she has been building a good rapport with her team and making sure that its members work well with each other.

Much of her summer will be spent reforming SSMU bylaws and working on the implementation of new forms of student consultation.

“Right now, several bylaws need to be changed because they’re either contradictory or out of date,” Knight said.

Knight also expressed enthusiasm about reforming student-consultation.

“We want to have strategic summits next fall about key issues,” she said. “These, I hope, will create a better-detailed, more nuanced discussion about issues and bring more students together.”

Emily Clare, incoming Vice-President University Affairs, will be equally busy.

“The transition [has] a steep learning curve. You can’t just know the stuff on paper,” she said.

Clare will be trying to develop relationships with the outgoing and incoming senators, so that they can work efficiently come September. Her main objective is to amplify student voices in campus debate.

“I think broad, sweeping change can only happen gradually,” she said. “If you do it effectively, you have to engage the students; if you don’t you will alienate them, which would be counterproductive.”

VP External Joël Pednault plans to work on similar issues, but will focus on tuition hikes, which will be a major issue next year.

“Over the summer I will be preparing material to make people understand how Quebec tuition works,” he said.

“I don’t like how the government is pulling away from funding and making it more about private donations,” he said. “I’ll be researching international tuition fees and where they go, to be able to get a picture of what’s going on.”

Todd Plummer, incoming VP Internal, will be preparing for a number of major events early in the fall semester. Most notably, he will be helping to plan Frosh, which has undergone major changes.  

“I’m carrying out the new integrated orientation, [with] Frosh being a day shorter, and working with the administration to have a less alcohol-centric, but still fun, Frosh.”

On top of that, Plummer will also be planning Homekoming.

Shyam Patel, incoming VP Finance and Operations, can’t wait to get started.

“If Nick [Drew, current VP FOPS] wants to step aside, I’m ready right now,” he said.

Patel, a self-described workaholic, has a lot of plans for his the portfolio this summer. He wants to write a document for Council concerning funding, and to make clubs aware of the importance of audits since the beginning.

In addition, Patel wants the Financial Ethics Review Committee (FERC) to have a more active role in research and also wants the committee to have a stricter conflict-of-interest policy.

“I look forward to getting into heated discussions with everyone,” he said. “I know people will hate me but I can take it.”

Carol Fraser, incoming VP Clubs and Services, is also excited to take office. With less direct SSMU experience than the other execs, she’ll have a lot to learn, but she’s confident in her ability to fulfill her responsibilities.

“I’m working on a clubs and services workshop where the club executives come and learn how to budget and relate to SSMU all the things that go along with that,” she said.

With mostly second and third place overall team finishes throughout the season, the Redmen swimmers had an overall standard year collectively. The team finished 11th out of 19 teams at the CIS championships in late February to cap off a steady season that left the team with room for improvement next year. However since swimming is more individually-based it would be less useful to think of the team’s overall mediocre record and instead remember some of the spectacular individual performances by the Redmen swimmers.

Without a doubt, last year’s Quebec swimmer of the year, Steven Bielby had another stellar season. A hurricane of swimming talent and ability, Bielby won golds in the 200m and 400m individual medleys while breaking the Quebec conference and McGill record with a time of two minutes, 0.24 seconds for his 200m swim. These wins automatically earn him an invitation to swim for Canada in August at the 2011 FISU Summer Games in Shenzhen, China. In his third trip to the CIS Championships, Bielby added to his medal collection, now totaling nine medals (six gold, one silver, and two bronze). At the CIS Championship, Matthew Khatchadourian also reached the finals of his event, the 50m breaststroke, and finished eighth overall.

Unsurprisingly, Bielby was named this year’s MVP of Redmen swimming. If Bielby can produce another great year and the rest of the Redmen can step up to anywhere close to his level, the swimming team has a bright future next year.

MVP: Steven Bielby

Swimmer to Watch: Pierre-Alexandre Renaud

The 2011 Martlet Volleyball season was a disappointing one. Despite flashes of brilliance throughout the season, the squad was unable to take advantage of two chances to make the CIS Championship tournament and ended the season with six consecutive losses, finishing with an overall record of 21-22.

The Martlets finished third in the Quebec University Women’s Volleyball League with a 10-10 conference record. Since Laval hosted the CIS Championships, Quebec received three berths rather than the usual two, and only one Quebec team missed out on nationals. McGill’s first chance to qualify came in the conference semifinal series against the second-seeded Montreal Carabins. McGill lost the best of three series in two games, but still had a chance to qualify for nationals by defeating the last-place Sherbrooke Vert-et-Or for third place. In the regular season, McGill had a perfect 4-0 record against Sherbrooke and entered the series as heavy favourites. Despite their regular season success, the Martlets were swept, losing both games in five sets.

While the season came to a disappointing finish, there were still many positive performances. Fifth-year Kelsey Irwin earned a spot on the all-Canadian second-team and first QUVL all-star team. Irwin was second in Quebec with 4.16 points and 3.37 kills per game, fourth in province with 0.87 blocks per game and sixth in hitting percentage (.260). Sophomore Daphnée-Maude André-Morin was named libero of the year in Quebec. She missed four games during the season but still finished first in the conference with 247 total digs and 4.05 digs per game. Finally, Marcela Mansure earned a spot on the second Quebec all-star team after she led the league with 708 assists.

2011 should prove to be a learning experience for the Martlets. They’re a young squad that should be much improved next season as they look to learn from their mistakes and qualify for the CIS Championship in 2012.

Record: 10-10

MVP: Kelsey Irwin

Player to Watch: Daphnée-Maude André-Morin

Throughout the year the Martlets had a bad habit of letting themselves fall behind early in games only to rely on extraordinary clutch play to pull out victories. They finally ran out of magic in the first round of the playoffs against a Laval Rouge-et-Or team that, despite an abysmal start, was dangerous in the second half of the season.

McGill came into the 2010-11 season returning all but three players from 2009-10’s QUBL playoff runner-up team and had accordingly high expectations.

Third-year forward Anneth Him-Lazarenko led the QUBL in scoring (15.6 points per game), was second in rebounds (8.6 per game), and led the league in field goal percentage (.541). She was named QUBL player of the year and earned a place on the first team All-Canadian, the only Martlet to do so in 14 years.

In the frontcourt, Helene Bibeau and Him-Lazarenko will be bolstered by the development of freshmen Valerie L’Ecuyer and Roya Assadi, who were among the all-too-few who performed well in the team’s playoff loss.

Sophomore guards Marie-Eve Martin and Francoise Charest, alongside Master’s student Natalie Larocque, shouldered the scoring load all season long in the backcourt. The team’s clutch reputation was mainly built off of Martin’s heroics from three-point range.

This is a difficult team to evaluate, because despite their regular season dominance, they failed to show up when it counted the most.

Still, the most successful season in Martlet basketball history shouldn’t be discounted because of 40 mistake-riddled minutes. Another year’s experience will afford one of McGill’s better teams an opportunity to win the QUBL playoffs and advance to nationals.

No Martlet will graduate this semester, and next year the team will enjoy the services of former Laval captain Eve Marquis-Poulin, who was a red-shirt transfer this season. With a long offseason to think about what went wrong in the playoffs, this is a team that should be primed for a huge year.

Record: 13-3

Co-MVPs: Marie-Eve Martin and Anneth Him-Lazarenko

Player to Watch: Valerie L’Ecuyer

It was, as usual, a great year in sports.

On the home front, the Redbirds won the national baseball championships, the Redmen hockey team made it all the way to the final, and the Martlet hockey team went undefeated in CIS competition to win another National Championship.

On the professional side of things, the Decision happened, which, whether or not you agreed with it, or wanted to blow your brains out after listening to months of media coverage rehashing it, has already had huge implications for the direction of the NBA—for example, the ‘Melo drama in New York.

In football, we saw the resurgence of TitleTown, as Aaron Rodgers eradicated Green Bay’s memories of a certain retired(?) QB.

Tiger Woods returned to the public eye, and turned terrible at golf. The Giants won the pennant for the first time since 1954. Even better, and (perhaps) more importantly, cricket-driven diplomacy erupted between India and Pakistan as the two countries’ prime ministers watched their teams’ 2011 World Cup semifinal match side-by-side.

Some narratives were a little more melancholy. The indomnitable UConn women’s team lost, twice—dispelling my childish belief in the invincible. The dark spectre of headshots and resulting concussions looms a little larger over both the NFL and the NHL.

But if one thing was consistently great it was you, the fans. Thanks for reading. We love you. ‘Til next time—Adieu.

The Martlets hockey team captured its third CIS National Championship title in four years, won its sixth consecutive Quebec University Women’s Hockey Championships, and named four players to the All-Canadian team at the CIS Women’s Hockey Championships Awards Gala. Somehow, however, the 2011 Varsity Team of the Year still isn’t getting the appreciation it deserves.

The team was ranked second going into the season behind last year’s National Champions, the University of Alberta Pandas, the only team besides McGill to win a national title since 2005. After going undefeated in regular season play and running roughshod through the QSSF playoffs, McGill’s first game at nationals was against the Pandas. The Martlets got revenge with a 4-2 victory. The team carried on in the same controlling fashion, beating Queen’s 3-1 and cruising to the title with a 5-2 win against St. Francis Xavier.

Throughout the season, Cathy Chartrand was a consistent force for McGill. The fourth-year defender scored eight goals, had 21 assists, was named an All-Canadian, and was rewarded with the award for Female Athlete of the Year at the McGill intercollegiate sports award gala. Two Martlets to watch out for are Katia Clément-Heydra and Leslie Oles. Both in their first year, they added to McGill`s already considerable offensive firepower. All-Canadian Clément-Heydra played consistently throughout the season. She scored 11 times in the regular season. Oles stepped up to help her team on their road to nationals with six assists and one goal.

Five Martlets won’t be returning for the team next year, so a few new faces will need to step up and continue the team’s tradition of excellence.

Record: 20-0-0

MVP: Cathy Chartrand

Players to Watch:  Katia Clément-Heydra and Leslie Oles

When McGill brought in Head Coach David DeAveiro to lead the men’s basketball team, it was hoped that he would recreate the consistent success that he found at the University of Ottawa. The combination of a new coach and an exciting young core contributed to a season that surpassed expectations for most Redmen basketball fans.

Led by sophomore point guard Olivier Bouchard and national development program graduate/freshman shooting guard Simon Bibeau, the Redmen were in the thick of the playoff race all season. Their 10-6 record was a two game improvement over last year’s. The loss of Matthew Thornhill looked like it would be a big hole in the lineup but Bibeau stepped in admirably, averaging 13.6 points per game and often taking over contests when his team needed him most. Bouchard, last year’s QUBL recruit of the year, led the team with an average of 14.1 points per game. He and Bibeau developed excellent chemistry as the season went along and dazzled supporters and opponents on numerous occasions. McGill once again qualified for the playoffs but fell for the second consecutive year to the Laval Rouge-et-Or. McGill’s Achilles heel showed in close games against league leaders Laval and Concordia, losing four games against the big two by five points or less.

The Redmen have to be excited about their prospects in 2011-2012, as the entire roster will return with the exception of fifth-year forward Michael White. Another year of experience for Bouchard, Bibeau, and the rest of the squad should only help. Expect the Redmen to challenge for the QUBL title next season.

Record: 10-6

MVP: Olivier Bouchard

Player to Watch: Simon Bibeau

What used to be an anomaly is now the norm: the McGill Redmen are perennial National Championship contenders. The 2010-2011 season was a historic one for the Redmen hockey team as McGill qualified for its fifth National Championship in six years and played in the national title game for the first time in the program’s history. McGill also set a school record with 38 wins and led the CIS with an average of 5.08 goals per game.     

CIS MVP Alexandre Picard-Hooper and linemates Francis Verreault-Paul and Andrew Wright once again led the Redmen offence. What allowed McGill to put together the highest goals-for total in all of CIS hockey this year was the secondary scoring of players like Maxime Langlier-Parent, a vital contributor in McGill’s long postseason run. Stellar defence from a corps led by captain Evan Vossen and strong goaltending from Hubert Morin were also key elements in a near perfect mixture for first-year Head Coach Kelly Nobes. McGill defeated Western for a second straight Queen’s Cup title before dispatching St. FX and Alberta en route to the national final.

This season will go down in history—at least until next year, when the strong core returns for another shot at the University Cup. While the Redmen ultimately fell in the championship game to the top-ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds, optimism abounds for McGill as they are well positioned to take another run at the cup. Expectations are high as the Redmen have their sights set on the top prize.

Record: 24-2-2

MVP: Alexandre Picard-Hooper

Player to Watch: Ryan McKiernan

As exam time coincides with tax season, filing a tax return is the last thing on students’ minds. It’s unlikely that many students will file before the deadline on April 30. Furthermore, many students think they don’t need to file a tax return because they don’t make enough money to owe any taxes. While this is true, there are a few perks to filing your taxes that may give you an incentive, including putting a little extra cash in your pocket in time for summer.

First, filing a tax return entitles students to receive taxes withheld at source. For example, some employers may have deducted some tax from a student’s pay check. The basic personal amount for the 2010 tax year is $10,382. This means that the first $10,382 of students’ employment income is tax-free. Since most students fall in a non-taxable bracket, coupled with many credits available to them, they are certain to get back taxes that were deducted.

If students are 19 years of age or older, they are eligible to receive the GST/HST credit. This credit is meant to assist individuals with low and modest incomes to help offset all or part of the GST/HST they pay on the purchase of goods and services. In Quebec, students are also eligible to receive the provincial solidarity tax credit. This credit consolidates the QST credit, the credit for individuals living in northern villages and credit for the housing component.

Another reason to file a return is to get a refund of property taxes as a tenant. Students may be entitled to receive the refund if they were Quebec residents on December 31 and they were living as the tenant or subtenant of an eligible dwelling on that date.

In addition, students can claim tuition, education, and textbook amounts to allow them to reduce their income taxes in the current year or carry them forward in the future. Students can also claim interest they pay on student loans and their public transit passes.

Lastly, filing a tax return not only has benefits now, but also for the future. Filing a return creates Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) contribution room. This will allow students to make contributions immediately when they begin working full time. Deductible RRSP contributions can be used to reduce taxes.

Filing a tax return may be a confusing and arduous task to some; however, retaining the services of a good tax preparer will certainly make students’ lives easier as they concentrate on their final exams.

Kevin Nzomo is a McGill University student and works at Student Tax Prep Canada in Montreal, QC. He can be contacted at [email protected]