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The human cost of a warmer future

by Madison Edward-Wright on

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This summer, I spent most of my time working and hiking. If I wasn’t running around helping a client find something at the pet store I worked at, I was running around the woods with a backpack full of snacks, coffee, and water. I ventured past the city of Montreal to McGill’s Gault Nature Reserve at Mont St-Hilaire or to Mont-Rigaud, close to the Ontario-Quebec border. For the few hours I was in the woods, I left my earphones in the car and shut my phone off so that I could enjoy the sounds of rustling leaves, streams, and the occasional birdsong. 

One Tuesday toward the end of July, I was staring out the window at work planning my next excursion when I noticed how hazy the sky was. In fact, it was more than hazy: It was smoky. I soon realized that it was actual smoke, so much of it that I could not make out the cars on the other side of the parking lot, maybe only 200 metres away from me. When I looked at the sun, I could barely tell where it was in the sky. It was like a fever dream. I stepped outside expecting to see a building on fire, but there were no flames, no buildings on fire—just heavy air, thick with smoke and the scent of fire. When I left that night, the haze had passed, but the moon was glowing a deep orange colour. 

Later that night, my research revealed the source of the apocalyptic scene as the major forest fires raging across Canada. The moon that night was orange because the smoke particles blocked shorter wavelengths of light, like blue and green. This year, Canada experienced 6,224 wildfires between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15. The week of July 20 saw the highest number of active fires recorded in a week in 2021 since the start of Canada’s official fire season on April 28. The week I noticed the smoky sky, there were 738 active fires. In those seven days, 580.6 thousand hectares of land were burned. 

What startled me was that these statistics represented wildfires in Canada in 2021 alone. As I reflected on just how much the natural world is suffering, I was seized by a strong sense of impending dread. That sense of dread made me extremely anxious, depressed even, about what the future of our planet would be.

This anxiety was not entirely new to me. It was something I had felt it for years, but had buried it deep down because I didn’t want to deal with the reality of the ongoing climate crisis. After witnessing the effects of climate change first-hand, however, I understood I could no longer

Rugby, Sports

Redbirds rugby advance to finals, beating Bishop’s in nail-biter game

by Madison McLauchlan on

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On Oct. 31, McGill Redbirds rugby hosted Bishop’s Gaiters for the RSEQ semifinals, winning 30-27 in a brutally competitive double overtime contest that totalled over 110 minutes of play. Both teams braved the rainy weather and cold winds to vie for the coveted spot in the finals, but McGill brought it home with a penalty kick to break the 27-27 tie in sudden-death overtime.  

Early in the first half, it became clear that the rain would not help with ball handling, as the Gaiters struggled to hold possession long enough to get deep into McGill territory. Despite this and McGill’s fast-paced attacking drives, the Gaiters were the first to open up the scoring on a penalty goal at 14:21 on the clock. 

The Redbirds’ consistent offensive pressure did not culminate in a try until the 38th minute, when prop Jeremy OckoMichalak squeezed past Bishop’s defence to touch down. Not even two minutes later, second-year Brad Hunger scored another try. Scrum-half Owen Cumming successfully converted both despite the tricky angles, bringing the score to 14-3 for McGill at halftime. 

“We defended well and maintained possession of the ball most of the half and didn’t give [Bishop’s] real opportunities to score,” head coach Ian Baillie said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. 

The second half saw the Gaiters raring to redeem themselves, refining their attacks and scoring three penalty goals in 10 minutes. Despite the extra pressure, the Redbirds added another try, penalty goal, and conversion.

Things took a turn for the worse at the 64-minute mark when Bishop’s brought the score to 24-19. In the very last minute of extra time, McGill was unable to fend off the Gaiters’ onslaught, and they scored a try with no conversion, forcing the match to overtime.

“It was a tale of two different games,” Baillie said. “[Bishop’s] took control of the game [with] a couple of penalty goals and some good retention on the ball. They put us under heaps of pressure and levelled it up to send us into extra time.” 

The drama did not stop there. The first two 10-minute periods of overtime brought physical play and one penalty goal apiece, extending the match past the 100-minute mark into sudden-death overtime. Finally, a steal by second-row Jacob Davidson led to a penalty opportunity directly in front of the goal posts. Cumming stepped up to the plate and the conversion was good—the rain-soaked crowd went mental. 

In a post-game interview, Cumming credited his teammates for their hard work leading to the ultimate win. 

“Rugby’s too much of a team sport to say that [I was the deciding factor], my job is to kick at the end of the day,” Cumming said. “I’m just very lucky to have teammates to get the job done so we can score like that.”

Fullback Benjamin Russell admitted that the Redbirds let their guard down in the second half, but was thrilled with the game’s turnout. 

“We’ve worked so hard for it […] so we’re just so happy,” Russell said. “Obviously, it was a very, very tight game in the end, we kind of let them come back into it, but we closed it out and saw them off. They put up a great fight, so hats off to them.” 

There is only one team standing between the Redbirds and the RSEQ championship: The Concordia Stingers, who shut them out at the semifinals in 2017. 

“We’re looking forward to going up against Con U in the final. Everyone’s excited for it,” Russell said. “As long as we are sticking to our game plan and following it, then we have the personnel and the skills that we […] need to beat them.” 

The Redbirds will host the Stingers on Nov. 6 at Molson Stadium in the RSEQ finals, where they hope to put on a show for McGill fans and to secure a championship title. 

MOMENT OF THE GAME:

Fourth-year scrum-half Owen Cumming nailed the final penalty kick to clinch the win for the Redbirds, sending the crowd into a frenzy after nearly two hours of gruelling, rain-soaked play. 

QUOTABLE:

“I’ve been here four years, [and] we’ve always lost to [Concordia]. It’s a chip on our shoulder that we want to get off, but we just gotta play our game. Today […] we let Bishop’s play to their strengths, we dipped down a bit, [but] we just have to be calm, composed and play our rugby.” —Scrum-half Owen Cumming  

STAT CORNER: 

McGill and Bishop’s fought dirty, with both sides racking up a total of 11 penalty kicks and three yellow cards. 

Editorial, Opinion

Quebec’s new program takes an ignorant course

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Oct. 24, the Quebec government unveiled a new education program called Culture and Citizenship in Quebec (CCQ). The new course will take the place of the previous Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) program. Intended to broaden student engagement with Quebec values, the program is currently undergoing a curriculum drafting process for both primary and secondary schools and will be deployed in schools for the 2022-23 school year as a pilot test. The curriculum is slated to be fully implemented by 2023-24. When Quebec Education Minister Jean-François Roberge announced the program, he emphasized that Quebec’s rich cultural legacy should be shared with students but that, at the same time, students could disagree “respectfully.” But instead, the program ends up enforcing an idealized version of Quebec culture that erases  cultural difference and breeds xenophobia. In light of criticisms by Indigenous groups and religious leaders, the Quebec government should halt the CCQ’s drafting process. Only by engaging with the various cultural and religious stakeholders on the land now known as Quebec can the provincial government actualize the program’s goal of dialogue and critical thinking skills.

When the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) first introduced the Ethics and Religious Culture program  in 2008, the intention was to teach students about the diversity of religions and cultures from an unbiased perspective. Considering how colonial governments used religion to further their imperial projects and how religion often finds itself at the root of global conflict, teaching—rather than proselytizing—religion bridges cultural gaps among students. As the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) began its secularizing mission—infamously embodied by Bill 21, which  prohibits public servants from wearing religious symbols—they sought out recommendations on how to best secularize the former ERC program. While Quebec’s culture certainly remains influenced by secularism and the legacy of the Quiet Revolution—a period during which the province retreated from the Catholic Church––religion still plays an important part in the lives of many Quebecers. Further, the government should not view religious differences as antithetical to Quebec culture, especially as the province sees rising levels of anti-Semitism and disproportionate violence and discrimination against Muslims. Under both Bill 21 and the CCQ, female Muslim teachers will continue to be stripped of their freedom of expression and identity, and intolerance and hate crimes toward Muslims risk seeing an even greater increase. Even if secularism belongs in education, students will not become citizens of the world, nor will they grasp the full picture of Quebec’s culture, through the total erasure of religion.

A major critique of ERC that provoked its revision was its focus on multiculturalism. A national right-wing promotion of a citizenship “values tests” set the groundwork for a closed-minded approach to Quebec culture. Such an approach has fueled nationalist extremism at the expense of minorities. Similar to comprehensive sexual education, students should be provided space to discuss religion openly. A fear of sharing or expressing one’s religion can create stigma and have disastrous impacts on identity formation. Teachers should be trained to explain religion, ethnicity, identity, and all their complex intersections, to foster a safe and inclusive environment.

The purpose of CCQ itself remains suspect, especially due to the government’s lack of consultation with Indigenous groups to whom the land belongs. Premier François Legault repeatedly denies the presence of systemic racism in the province and the non-Indigenous Minister of Indigenous Affairs Ian Lafrenière claimed that Indigenous groups had been consulted, despite the fact that many groups refute this. Exercises in promoting Quebecois culture and “nation”-building run counter to Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty and well-being. Quebec should move away from settler-colonial pedagogy, and toward championing Indigenous culture. Only then can students, teachers, and the province tap into the tenets of equality, conscience, and self-respect the CCQ aims to realize. 

As it stands, Quebec’s redrafting process signals that freedom of expression in the province is only given to those who submit to CAQ’s narrow doctrine, rules, and guidelines. Legislating a strict, “nationally cohesive” culture through the education system may be a clever political move to harness power from rural and suburban Quebecers detached from the religious diversity of Montreal and Quebec City. However, without proper consultation with Indigenous groups and religious minorities, the program will obscure differences to marginalized groups’ harm and majority groups’ ignorance.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

There’s something seductively toxic about ‘You’ season three

by Fernanda Turcato on

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Warning – Spoilers ahead !

Previous seasons of You have presented all the makings of a modern romantic story: Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy would do anything for girl. This time around, however, boy happens to be an obsessive stalker whose love language includes nothing short of murder—that is, until he meets his perfect match, creating a recipe for a perfectly unhinged love story. This sequence is continued in the third season of You, a Netflix original that embraces the villain as the protagonist, ultimately keeping the audience unsure if they should support the brooding-yet-charming Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) despite his sociopathic tendencies.

Following the twist ending of the second season, this latest instalment strays from the similar structures established in the first two seasons of the show. With the murderous and psychotic tendencies of the main characters exposed, the episodes follow newlyweds Joe and Love Quinn-Goldberg (Victoria Pedretti) attempting to settle into domestic bliss in the suburbs of Madre Linda. 

Joe and Love navigate the difficulties of marriage and life with their newborn child, Henry, all while trying to integrate into a privileged upper-middle class milieu, suppressing their aversion to their neighbour’s “woke,” status-driven lifestyles.

Though the dark secrets harboured by the new residents risk alienating the couple from their community, the show’s narrative never fails to recognize their privilege as a white, cis-gendered heterosexual couple, whose cushy lifestyle is funded by Love’s family fortune. Neither Joe nor Love would have been able to maintain the illusion of the American dream had it not been for the safety net of wealth and influence provided by Love’s family, which allowed the two to narrowly escape run-ins with the law. The genius of the series lies within the duplicity of their lives as criminals and as blissfully engaged community members. This dynamic creates a vehicle for social commentary, despite the absurdity of the contrast between serial murderers and athleisure-wearing, gossip-hungry yoga moms. Even in such a bizarre setting, the show still uses its protagonists to critique different aspects of society.

Viewers know that Love killing her neighbour in a burst of rage is wrong, but they can’t help but agree with her disgust toward the hypocrisy of the neighbourhood women, who profit off of her victim’s disappearance to gain sympathy from their masses of online followers. In one of her many impulsive homicidal outbursts, Love assaults a fellow Madre Linda resident and locks him in a cage in the basement of her bakery upon hearing about how his anti-vax opinions led to her son’s hospitalization. His child, who hadn’t received the measles vaccine, was around Joe and Love’s son and passed the disease onto him. Despite the condemnable act of violence perpetrated against a fellow parent, the transmission of political messages—in this case, on the importance of vaccines—succeeds by vilifying a character described as the person for whom “World’s Greatest Dad” mugs were created. 

Ultimately, the contrast of the plastic purity of Madre Linda and the gruesome hobbies of their newest residents provides a channel for social commentary of the real world that ultimately ushers in a reckoning of our own morality—by succeeding in making us root for the villain.

Commentary, Opinion

Cabinet criticisms coincide with McGill’s concerning treatment of faculty

by Matthew Molinaro on

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On Oct. 26, Governor General Mary May Simon swore in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet. As Canada faces its second consecutive Liberal minority government, the cabinet will become a focal point of debates over the future of the nation. Notably, Trudeau appointed Member of Parliament (MP) Anita Anand to one of Canada’s most prominent portfolios, the ministry of National Defence, and MP Steven Guilbeault, former leader of Greenpeace Quebec and co-founder of Équiterre, to the ministry of Environment and Climate Change. These two appointments rankled observers, who questioned their qualifications for their roles. Regardless of an observer’s political leanings, such comments on Anand and Guilbeault’s resumés deflect from the meaningful policies the Canadian public should push these ministers and the Liberal government to enact. These criticisms, though, relate to a pattern in hiring and protection at universities, in which departments overlook and mistreat those who challenge systems of power, favouring instead those who conform to institutional expectations.

Anand, the former Minister of Public Services and Procurement in charge of Canada’s vaccine rollout, faced both widespread acclaim and criticism from foreign and domestic news sources following her appointment. A now-retitled National Post article announced her appointment by merely stating that “a woman” would replace former Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan. More serious criticisms come from those who highlighted Anand’s lack of military experience, calling her a military “outsider.” Anand herself addressed the optics of her appointment by acknowledging both her position as the first female defence minister since Kim Campbell and her expertise in governance, process, and law. The Canadian Armed Forces is rife with sexual assault and harassment, with countless women and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community encountering a hostile environment within the service. It is surprising, then, that critics would have preferred an official with military experience given the fact that previous ministers with extensive training, including Sajjan, have turned their back to allegations of sexual violence. Anand’s fresh outlook, proven expertise, and extensive legal training should be welcomed in supporting not just the safety, security, and freedom of those serving in the armed forces, but of all Canadians.

Guilbeault, the former Minister of Heritage, experienced diametrically opposite reactions from Quebec and Alberta. Many Quebecers, still upset at Trudeau’s choice to snub Guilbeault of Environment in the last cabinet appointment, were cautiously optimistic to see their climate hero rise to a position of influence. Alberta politicians suggested otherwise, with Conservative Premier Jason Kenney attacking the minister’s “radical activism’” and former New Democratic Premier and current Leader of the Opposition Rachel Notley marking his troubling past statements about oil. A photo of Guilbeault getting arrested while wearing an orange jumpsuit after a climate protest also made rounds on social media. To attack a politician for their previous activism is to silence current activists who apply public pressure on leaders, especially on such urgent issues supported by a majority of Canadians, like mitigating climate change. If the political arena becomes sealed off to civilian activists, politics will return to the traditional, backdoor status quo procedures that only serve to protect the interests of privileged Canadians.

Likewise, at McGill, when scholars speak out about divestment, racial injustice, and human rights—issues many of McGill’s esteemed scholars have vast academic and practical experience in—they receive less protection than anti-2SLGBTQIA+ scholars. Instead, they often encounter doxxing, unequal tenure opportunities, and roadblocks to promotion. At the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights program, a recent donor-influenced decision to withhold hiring noted academic Valentina Azarova because of her work critical of Israel presents a too-often occurring phenomenon in the modern university. For scholars, neglecting current issues would be cataclysmic––an arrest of all critical reimaginings of this profoundly unjust world. 

Of course, Anand and Guilbeault should not be glorified above other Canadians or ministers. In an increasingly centralized Canadian political system, where the Prime Minister’s Office wields immense power over ministers, Canadians must seek out their allies and hold them responsible, just as Anand and Guilbeault must hold the military and fossil fuel corporations accountable. The same must be stated of the McGill administration, wherein the expansion of Gender, African and Black, and Indigenous studies must proceed hand-in-hand with feminist, anti-racist, and decolonial practices. When this happens, scholars, students, and politicians can do their best, most authentic and transformative work.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘Eternals’ takes forever to almost achieve greatness

by Michelle Siegel on

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After numerous iconic filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Denis Villeneuve made disparaging comments about the standards of superhero films, Marvel Studios faced extra public pressure to create innovative and exciting iterations of the familiar genre.

Eternals follows several members of an immortal alien race who secretly lived on Earth for several millennia to protect humanity from the dangerous and predatory Deviants—another group of animalistic alien creatures. Following the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame and the return of half the Earth’s population, the Eternals reunite after Deviants resurface and start hunting down the long-separated group.

The film’s vision clearly comes from the creative sensibilities of writer-director Chloe Zhao, who won multiple Academy Awards this year for her film Nomadland. Zhao brings a more grounded, humble approach to Eternals’ massive scale and stakes. While other TV shows like HBO’s Watchmen and Amazon Prime’s The Boys tell darker stories about super-powered individuals with grittier, more realistic dynamics, Eternals embraces a traditional superhero story without the genre’s usual pomp and circumstance. 

The film’s cinematography is expansive and engaging, with the many geographic settings serving as a calm, yet powerful, backdrop to the adventures of the titular team. There is lots of natural chemistry and diversity amongst the cast, which makes it easier for audiences to believe the sensational fantasy of the plot. The film’s themes of community, destiny, and self-empowerment are potent and inspiring, and are just as present in countless other Marvel films.

At a runtime of 157 minutes, Eternals is a viewing commitment, but for the most part, the film earns its length. The size of the ensemble cast and broad scope of conflict necessitate the duration, providing space to accommodate the characters’ many interwoven stories. It isn’t completely successful, however: The sheer number of characters and plotlines lead to several of them feeling underdeveloped. The ingenuity of Zhao’s direction and the dynamic explorations of human settings, superhuman emotions, and nuanced moral quandaries round out the better aspects of the film. 

Yet, the countless juxtapositions of the film’s intentions and finished product compromise the film’s overall quality. The movie is stuck in a type of fandom limbo—it isn’t extravagant or sensational enough to fit in with the majority of Marvel movies, but it’s not indie enough to please cinephiles either. While these aren’t the only categories of filmgoers, they are the most likely to see a Chloe Zhao-directed Marvel film. In light of Scorsese and Villeneuve’s comments, it is understandable why Zhao would try to break from Marvel films’s traditional format. The final product, however, is bogged down by the more formulaic aspects of the film—the romances between characters and the ending, in particular—making the tone feel inconsistent.

Another frustrating aspect of Eternals is its unconventional approach to common superhero film tropes—rather than subverting them, Zhao subdues them. The diminished tropes work to varying degrees of success: While the lack of melodrama is a fresh take on fantastical storytelling, this humble approach lessens the stakes of conflict. Lacking suspense and anticipatory energy, many moments in the film feel wrongfully constructed and anticlimactic. Some character arcs are both derivative of other Marvel films and only occasionally given dramatic weight, making certain scenes feel out of place. The logic behind these choices make sense, but ultimately lead to the film not living up to its full potential. 

Eternals is a very enjoyable film overall, but its fallacies and contrasting elements prevent it from being truly great. The long runtime is needed to accommodate all of the ensemble cast’s stories and talents, but leaves certain necessary plot points to the muddled imaginations of audiences. It may not become a beloved Marvel classic, but the pieces of Zhao’s vision that are able to shine through make it well worth the eternally rising price of cinema admission. 

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘The French Dispatch’ is the height of the Wes Anderson aesthetic

by Charlotte Hayes on

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Nearly three years after his last feature, beloved American filmmaker Wes Anderson is back with The French Dispatch. Premiering in Toronto and theUnited States on Oct. 22, the film was released in theatres across Canada on Oct. 28. Anderson described it as a “love letter to journalism,” and it is just that. Drawing upon the eccentric cinematic style and storytelling techniques that audiences have come to expect from the idiosyncratically comedic director, The French Dispatch is sure to be popular among Anderson fans, but risks losing casual viewers with its confusing plot and excessive stylization. 

Set in the mid-20th-century French offices of an American travel journal, The French Dispatch is a collection of vignettes that comprise the articles featured in the titular magazine. The film follows a team of journalists—Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand), Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright), and Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson)—as they pitch their stories to editor Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray). The articles explore each writer and their different journalistic subjects: An artist sentenced to life in prison, a student chess riot, and a kidnapping solved with the help of a chef. 

The French Dispatch is ostensibly five different movies in one, as each article presented by each character creates a world of its own, allowing the audience to tap into a different side of the small fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé. This technique, although narratively interesting, quickly becomes confusing. With such complex smaller segments of the film—each of which could almost pass for its own feature film—the audience can easily forget the overarching narrative. The film requires that the audience do some work in uniting separately constructed worlds to piece together a continual narrative.

Frequent Wes Anderson collaborators Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody all appear once again in The French Dispatch, each delivering excellent performances. The best performance in the film comes from Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio Del Toro), who plays an imprisoned artist who is in love with Simone (Léa Seydoux), a prison security guard. Del Toro delivers the most entertaining and hilarious scenes of the film, despite limited dialogue.

A staple of Wes Anderson’s films is witty dialogue with deadpan delivery. The French Dispatch and its fictional French village provide the perfect canvas for this, as the characters in the utmost absurd stories behave with complete sincerity. The juxtaposition of these quiet journalists against larger-than-life characters strengthens the film’s comedic edge. The film’s rapid pacing and light tone is a saving grace for general audiences who might otherwise become confused by the film’s structure. 

The French Dispatch continues in the same stylistic tradition as Wes Anderson’s previous work. With eccentric set pieces, perfectly symmetrical shots, and rigid colour palette, Anderson’s films instantly transport the viewer to another world. However, this intensely surreal cinematographic style may go too far, at times feeling nearly satirical in its execution. The world of the film is so perfectly symmetrical and vibrantly saturated that it almost feels as if it loses touch with reality, diverging from a hyper-styled version of real life into a fantasy that more closely resembles a dollhouse. This style can become frustrating.

The film is ultimately Wes Anderson’s style at its peak. With its geometrical cinematography, distinctive colour palettes, and eclectic 1950s fashion, The French Dispatch is sure to capture the aesthetic attention of fans of Anderson’s work. Although it isn’t without its flaws, The French Dispatch is a creative and dynamic piece of work that stands out amid 2021’s track record of films, and well worth a trip to the theatre. 

Off the Board, Opinion

Made with love

by Sepideh Afshar on

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Growing up, I never had chicken nuggets or frozen pizza for dinner. Instead, there was a fresh, home-cooked Persian meal in front of me each night––and looking back, I was extremely unappreciative of it. As I have gotten older, I have grown to appreciate that the love of somebody labouring for twelve hours to make your favourite dish is not a feeling that everybody gets to experience, at least not on a regular basis. As silly as it may sound, understanding the love languages of those around you is vital to healthy relationships. It was through this newfound appreciation for the many different ways of showing affection that I began to value all the little things my dad did for me growing up—even if it just started with a stew.

When I was a kid I was a picky eater and somebody who did not understand that different cultures come with different foods. I truly thought that my parents were villains for not letting me have mozzarella sticks for dinner like many of my peers did. When I was served an intricate Persian meal, I would promptly complain and ask for spaghetti. But this never stopped my family from showing their love in the way they do best, and that is how Persian spaghetti entered our home. A combination of Canadian and Persian food that had spaghetti and meat sauce but also incorporated potato tahdig—an addition that my sister and I would fight over—it became a dish my dad made often. 

My dad is the epitome of what you would call “a man of few words.” You can tell him a 20-minute-long story, and while he will pay careful attention the whole time, there is a good chance that the only response you will get is a nod. When I was younger this would frustrate me; all I wanted was some kind of conversation. But as I have grown older, I have learned to appreciate the way that he shows his love. To put it in terms that my father would not fully understand: His love language is definitely ‘acts of service,’ and cooking allows him to express his love for our family. 

A lot changed as I grew up, but the quality and the love that went into the food I ate remained consistent. Even when our family shrank from four members to three after my parents’ divorce, and then three to two when my sister went to university, my dad would spend hours cooking. I did not understand why he spent so much time in the kitchen after a long day at work when it was just us two. Drawing on what I saw from my peers around me, at Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts, I thought that me and my dad at the dinner table, re-watching Gilmore Girls, was not exactly the right occasion for sabzi polo. But my dad does not need an audience. He just needs one person that he loves at the table, and he is happy to spend 10 hours over the stove, making sure that everything is perfect. 

Although it sometimes saddens me that I failed to fully appreciate what it meant when my dad would pull out estamboli on a random Thursday night when I lived with him, I know that to him, seeing me hastily finish the food on my plate was more than enough. On the train to my dads, my sister and I talk over what we want to eat at home. I know her go-to is ghormeh sabzi, an herb stew, and mine is always fesenjoon, a pomegranate and walnut stew that takes all day to make. When we get into my dad’s car, we both know that his first question will be, “what dishes do you two want this weekend?”

McGill, News

McGill reinstates Winter 2022 exchanges

by Juliet Morrison on

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On Oct. 22, just 17 days after cancelling all student exchanges for the Winter 2022 term, McGill announced that exchanges would be reinstated. This development came a day after Global Affairs Canada lifted the non-essential travel advisory, which McGill based their travel rules on amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the return of exchange programs was met with student enthusiasm, the backtracking was frustrating for some who had made alternate plans following the initial cancellation. 

McGill Abroad, the office that coordinates exchanges, contacted students on Oct. 22, asking them to confirm whether they were still interested in participating in their planned programs during the upcoming winter semester. Students were asked to make their decision by Oct. 27 and were told that they would receive confirmation about whether their exchange will go forth during the week of Nov. 1, once McGill Abroad coordinates with their partner institution. 

In an email to The McGill Tribune, Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, explained the implications of Canada’s updated travel advisory, noting that McGill is trying its best to coordinate the exchanges, but that some may not work. 

“With the removal of the global travel advisory, McGill will be able to return to pre-pandemic travel conditions, allowing for freer movement of students, faculty and staff,” Mazerolle wrote. “Although we cannot guarantee that it will be possible, McGill is working with students and partner universities with the aim of making it possible for students to proceed with their exchanges.”

Many students were excited by McGill’s announcement, including Juliette Debray, U3 Engineering and co-creator of a petition that called for the reinstatement of Winter 2022 exchanges. While Debray was happy to hear about the reversal, she also acknowledged the negative impacts of McGill’s “hasty” decision to cancel them in the first place.  

“Obviously, I’m really happy,” Debray said. “But, I know I am lucky in the sense that the only decision I made in between was [changing flights]. I know people that signed leases [in Montreal] for their winter semester and so now will have to deal with that if they […] go on [an] exchange [….] McGill said they were not going to change their mind [about winter exchanges] and then they did.”

Debray also has a theory that other universities, such as the University of British Columbia, timed their announcements on Winter 2022 exchanges under the assumption that Global Affairs Canada was going to adjust their travel advisory. Debray suggested McGill should have done the same.

Some students, like Max Garcia, U2 Arts and the other co-creator of the petition, were worried about meeting the deadlines set by their host university and about obtaining proper immigration documents in time. The application deadline for Garcia’s intended host university, Sciences Po, in France, had already passed when McGill back-tracked on their cancellation. 

“The office contacted me and all the other students who had planned to go to Sciences Po as we missed the application deadline [due to the cancellation],” Garcia said in an interview with the Tribune. “It is a quick turnaround, so I hope we can all get our visa applications through.” 

Debray and Garcia’s petition garnered over 800 signatures from students frustrated by McGill’s initial cancellation. Garcia believes it may have played a role in McGill’s decision to reinstate exchanges. 

“I think [the petition] had a real impact in mobilizing students to express their frustration with the administration’s decision,” Garcia said. “I was really happy along with everyone else [about the reinstation]. I am just glad it all ended well and we are able to go abroad.” 

McGill, Montreal, News

Kahentinetha demands a suspension to New Vic Project, calling for further investigation into the site’s history

by Benjamin Wexler on

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Kahentinetha, a Kanien’kehá:ka kahnistensera (Mohawk Mother) of the Bear Clan and founder of Mohawk Nation News, is demanding the suspension of McGill’s New Vic project. In a brief posted to the Mohawk Nation News website, Kahentinetha called on McGill to acknowledge Indigenous sovereignty and to allow an investigation team—comprised of a surveyor, geologist, search dog, all guided by GeoView Pro software—to search for unmarked graves she suspects may be on the project site.

In the Mohawk Nation News post, Kahentinetha argued that because the Royal Victoria Hospital site sits on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, the kaia’nere:kowa (The Great Law of Peace), pre-colonial Mohawk law,  applies. Under this law, the Kanien’kehá:ka kahnistensera are caretakers of the land, and all decisions regarding it must be made with their consent. Additionally, Kahentinetha claimed that the Canadian government held money from the Iroquois Trust Fund, loaned it to McGill Universityin 1847, and never paid it back. 

According to a McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle, McGill’s Indigenous Initiatives Unit and the Indigenous-owned consulting firm Acosys aimed to include Indigenous peoples in producing the project’s design.

“There have been several exchanges, including information sessions and round table discussions with Indigenous education organizations, Mohawk alumni, and Elders,” Mazerolle wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. 

In an interview with the Tribune, Kahentinetha argued that the land should be treated as an archeological site until further investigations are completed.

“[Rumours of unmarked graves on the property] are becoming more and more serious, so we would like that investigated,” Kahentinetha said. “And certainly there are our people buried up there in pre-colonial times, and we want that investigated as well. Nothing can proceed until that is done [….] If there’s going to be any investigation, we want to be involved with that. We want it done to our satisfaction.”

Kahentinetha believes McGill’s exchanges with Indigenous peoples should go beyond discussions with select community representatives, and should instead look to gain the consent of each member of the community, according to structures of Indigenous law.

“I do not think any one of [the Indigenous groups and representatives consulted] lives by the Great Peace,” Kahentinetha said. “We do not want consultation. You have to get our permission, and our permission we get from the Great Law [….] Each one of us has to have a say in whatever the decision is. Each one of us. Nobody speaks for us.”

In the 1950s and 60s, Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron experimented with torture techniques at the Allan Memorial Institute, a former psychiatric hospital next to the old Royal Victoria building. One Mohawk Nation News article features an interview with Lana Ponting, a survivor of these experiments, who says, “I am convinced that there are bodies buried in the property in the interview [….] I was really concerned about Indigenous peoples. I firmly believe that some of them were in the Allan.”

Kahentinetha, too, wants to send a forensic and archeological team to search for the bodies of potential Indigenous and non-Indigenous victims of Cameron’s experiments.

Public consultation on the New Vic project is ongoing. The rotisken’raketeh (Men’s Council Fire) will present Kahentinetha’s brief to the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) on Nov. 10.

Mazerolle did not specify whether McGill would change the direction of the project to investigate human remains, pointing to prior studies conducted onsite.

“McGill commissioned a study on the archeological potential of the Royal Victoria Hospital site in 2016,” Mazerolle wrote. “According to this study, it is unlikely that Indigenous remains will be found on the New Vic Project site. However, McGill remains committed to collaborating with the government and First Nations communities regarding potential vestiges. Should such vestiges be found, it will be made public immediately, the work will be suspended, and an archaeological officer of the Minister of Culture and Communications will be alerted (as stated in the Cultural Heritage Act.1).”

While the study Mazerolle references determined that pre-colonial Indigenous settlement on the project site was unlikely, it also states there is no way to confidently know whether it was a burial site, unless human remains are found.

McGill plans to begin construction on the New Vic in 2023.

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