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Art, Arts & Entertainment

MMFA lecture examines Riopelle’s Arctic inspiration

by Lowell Wolfe on

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On Mar. 10, Roy Ellenwood, a retired professor from York University and translator of Québécois literature, presented “Riopelle and Indigenous Art: The French Connection,” an online lecture with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). The presentation, which complemented the exhibit Riopelle: The Call of Northern Landscapes and Indigenous Cultures, elucidated the artwork’s historical and multicultural contexts.  

Until Sept. 12, 2021, the MMFA will feature a major in-person and virtual exhibition dedicated to one of Quebec’s most renowned artists, Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002). Riopelle showcases over one hundred of the artist’s works, juxtaposing them with their sources of inspiration—Indigenous artworks, artifacts, and anthropological documents. By displaying Riopelle’s art adjacent to its inspirations, the exhibit connects his fascination with Indigenous art to his work.

The exhibit’s free virtual tour shows hundreds of Riopelle’s works alongside Inuit masks, sculptures, tools, and other objects that tell the story of their creation. One room, Icebergs, features walls covered in monolithic, white canvas paintings. A sculpture looms in the room’s center, alongside a case displaying Inuit tools, carvings, and postcards from Riopelle’s trips to the Arctic. The concomitant placement of Riopelle’s art with Inuit art and history demonstrates their correlative existence in Riopelle’s artistic processes. 

“It was in 1955 that Riopelle first began to make reference in his titles to the masks and sculptures of [Indigenous] artists of the Canadian Arctic and West Coast,” Ellenwood said. “These three paintings, in spite of their significant titles, are not representational [of Indigenous art] in the usual sense of the word [….] Without their titles, they would be hard to distinguish from other abstract works on paper of the same period. The point is that these paintings do not depict masks, they respond to them.”

Although Riopelle’s paintings do not exhibit visual similitude to Indigenous sculptures, masks, or carvings, they express Riopelle’s feelings upon viewing them. Ellenwood then explored the circumstances that fostered Riopelle’s fascination with and eventual exploration of Indigenous visual cultures, and how they became part of his artistic process. During and after World War II, Riopelle’s interactions with figures of the surrealist art movement, such as French art critic Georges Duthuit, inspired his craft.

“Since the 1920s, the surrealist movement had been publishing articles on and photographs of Indigenous art, arguing that it deserved to be seen as more than mere anthropological evidence,” Ellenwood said. “[They argued] that it was great art in its own right, representing an alternative to the impoverishment of European culture, a possibility of renewal in times badly in need of what they called ‘a new myth.’”

Ellenwood’s presentation offered a small, representative glimpse of the art exhibit’s featured works, with oil paintings and lithograph prints that exemplified how Indigenous cultures influenced Riopelle’s creations. Many pieces, such as Tyuk, featured string-like patterns that referenced Inuit string figures and games which were popular across the Arctic.

“Inspired by the Inuit game of making shapes by manipulating a loop of string around the fingers of both hands, [Tyuk] refers to the sound that was traditionally made by the manipulator of the string as the knots, each representing a bird, were pulled, one-by-one, and came apart, representing the bird flying away,” Ellenwood said.

Other interesting pieces of information in the exhibit included letters sent from Riopelle to his companion, Joan Mitchell, and photos and postcards from Riopelle’s excursions to the High North. Ellenwood explained how Riopelle’s personal life, including his hobbies and relationships, was inseparable from his artistic activities and persona.

“His excursions included several to Pangnirtung on Baffin Island, one of which occurred in the summer of 1977,” Ellenwood said. “During that trip, he sent a half-dozen postcards to Joan Mitchell in France, keeping in mind that she did not appreciate his new Quebec residence, and as an animal lover, hated his enthusiasm for hunting and fishing. It is hard not to read some of these notes on these cards as teasing gibes.”

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

In ‘Nomadland,’ there is no such thing as goodbye

by India Blaisdell on

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It is no secret that the distinct American brand of late-stage capitalism is pushing its working class into even deeper levels of poverty. The exorbitantly high cost of health care and housing, tied with low-yield retirement benefits and a weakened welfare state, has forced many elderly Americans to adopt a neo-nomadic lifestyle. Jessica Bruder examines this phenomenon and its political context in her 2017 nonfiction book, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. Bruder interviewed older Americans who live out of their vans and RVs, travelling across states to find seasonal work. Some of these Americans were cast as fictionalized versions of themselves in Nomadland (2020), written and directed by Chloé Zhao. The film recently won Best Picture – Drama and Best Director at both the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards, and is Zhao’s third feature-length film.

Nomadland follows Fern (Frances McDormand), a 60-something nomad, as she drives from South Dakota to California and back again, working at Amazon warehouses, fast-food chains, and National Park campsites along the way. Fern’s character is based on an ex-resident of the real town of Empire, Nevada, which was wiped off the map after the sole source of its local economy—a gypsum mine—shut down after the 2008 recession. In contrast to its source material, Nomadland is much more about its own postscript—Dedicated to the friends who had to depart—than the scenes inside factory warehouses. Despite the book’s focus on socioeconomic factors, the film, in fact, does not address these issues at the foundation of the plot, perhaps to its detriment. To Fern, working for Amazon and various farms are just parts of her macro-level routine of driving around in search for odd jobs, and audiences who anticipate a take-down of the gig economy in Nomadland will find it lacking.

From a strictly formal perspective, McDormand’s raw and powerful performance and Joshua James Richards’ stunning cinematography paint a heart-wrenching portrait of grief and life’s impermanence. Fern, surrounded by the unforgiving, expansive, yet majestic American landscape, is chiefly a nomad because everything that provided her stability and security in the past has dissipated––her husband, Beau, has recently passed away, leaving her with no children, and she is forced out of her hometown. Throughout the film, Fern staunchly rejects offers from her friends and family to stay with them. Fern is unable to sit still and only feels truly at home in her van, where she can easily pack up and head to a new destination. Much like other characters in grief-centred films, especially Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) of Manchester by the Sea (2016), Fern is stubbornly self-reliant and cannot let go of the trauma she carries. She is unable to commit to something permanent despite her ability to acknowledge that other people foster that desire. Fern encourages Dave (David Strathairn), another nomad, to return home to his son and grandchild, yet when she visits them later on, she flees without saying goodbye. In a subsequent conversation, Bob (Bob Wells), the de facto leader of the van-dwelling community, voices something Fern has believed for a while. 

“I don’t ever say a final goodbye,” Bob tells Fern. “I always just say, ‘I’ll see you down the road’. And I do. And whether it’s a month, or a year, or sometimes years, I see them again.” 

The film’s incredible depth and power come from such moments, showing the audience what it means to accept the grief and loss with open arms. Without emphasizing fear, guilt, or shame, Nomadland reminds audiences that relationships are the most fluid and impermanent parts of existence, and ultimately, that our lives are filled with person-shaped holes. 

McGill, News

QS rankings place McGill among the top 50 universities worldwide

by Respina Rostamifar on

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On March 3, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings released its annual university rankings, naming McGill University as one of its top contenders with a global ranking of 31. Thirty-two different McGill subjects placed within the top 50 university rankings by subject, with three departments—Mineral & Mining, Library & Information Management, and Anatomy & Cell Biology—ranked among the global top 10.

The QS global ranking system is reputed to be among the most comprehensive ranking systems in the world for higher education. The system examines six key metrics to determine their rankings: Academic reputation, employer reputation, the faculty-to-student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio. 

Kimiz Dalkir, director, and Joan Bartlett, graduate program director, both at the School of Information Studies, attributed the school’s success to the student body and their contributions to research. 

“We owe our international reputation firstly to our students, who remain connected to us and act as the best ambassadors, and also to our researchers, who continue to have a great impact nationally and internationally,” Dalkir and Bartlett wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “We remain focussed on the heart of our program, to connect people to information. [This] has been the guiding principle since the School was established in 1927.”

 Frédérique Mazerolle, a media relations officer at McGill, said the university was pleased by its performance this year. 

“To be recognized is a source of pride for the McGill community,” Mazerolle said. “It is a demonstration of our collective commitment to maintaining McGill’s high standards and ensuring that we remain one of the world’s leading universities.”

Reflecting on the history of innovative research conducted at the university, Mazerolle discussed some of McGill’s most notable discoveries. 

“Our institution is recognized globally for the excellence of its teaching and research programs,” Mazerolle said. “Ernest Rutherford’s Nobel Prize-winning research on the nature of radioactivity was conducted at McGill, part of a long tradition of innovation on our campuses that includes the invention of the artificial blood cell and Plexiglass.” 

Mazerolle highlighted the university’s involvement in the field of epigenetics and expressed enthusiasm over recent research developments.

“Today, our professors are building the new field of epigenetics, developing alternative energy sources from crop plants and driving human achievement in every field imaginable,” Mazerolle said.

Brooklyn Frizzle, U3 Science and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President of University Affairs, was less optimistic about McGill’s ranking. Frizzle believes that while university rankings affect the decisions of prospective students, they have an insignificant impact on the lives and academic careers of current students. 

“Frankly, the university is far too concerned with courting prospective students and donors with high world rankings, and current McGill students suffer for it,” Frizzle said. “It is an open secret that when applying for tenure, instructors with high-profile research experience, the kind that boosts ranking statistics, are prioritized over instructors who chose to dedicate their time to teaching or campus community involvement.”

Frizzle questioned the extent to which the university prioritizes rankings over the quality of education and student life on campus.

“If you look through the principal’s remarks presented monthly to the Senate, you will find far more mentions of university rankings and illustrious award winners than community initiatives or campus heroes,” Frizzle said. “That is not to say that the university does not have a clear interest in boosting rankings [as] high ranking universities attract more students, donors, and government support, but rankings should not come at the expense of quality teaching and student wellbeing.”

Student Life

The dark side of studying nutrition

by Josephine Wang on

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CW: Disordered eating

I entered my freshman year at McGill with the dream of becoming a dietitian. After struggling with negative body image and disordered eating during high school, I vowed to dedicate my career to helping those experiencing the same challenges. I also thought that studying nutrition on a scientific level would improve my own relationship with food. I soon realized that while studying nutrition and dietetics comes with benefits and opportunities, there is a dark side to the field.

The classes and environment that I envisioned myself thriving in soon led to an overexposure to information about food and exercise, ultimately causing more harm than good. I constantly questioned my ideas and perceptions about food, weight, and even what the ideal of health looked like. 

Growing up in a Chinese-Taiwanese household, my diet consisted of all kinds of food, from white rice, to red meat, to colourful vegetables. However, as I began my classes in nutrition at McGill, I was taught to consult educational resources like MyPlate, which recommends meals with salmon, brown rice, and steamed vegetables, but not the beef noodle soup and scallion pancakes I grew up enjoying. I started internalizing the idea that anything that was not chicken, steamed broccoli, or whole grain was ‘bad’ for me, and I felt guilty for not eating the foods that I was “supposed” to.

Given the hyper-scrutiny I internalized from diet culture and my nutrition education, I pressured myself to eat healthy all the time. As a nutrition student, I believed I had to look and act a certain way in order to be taken seriously, and feared that I could not become a dietician if I did not appear slim and fit. This led to a vicious cycle of food restriction and binging, which made me feel even more ashamed. I wondered how I was supposed to give nutritional advice to others when I was struggling with these issues myself. 

Further, telling others that I study nutrition prompted them to scrutinize my dietary choices. The pressure from the expectations of my family, my peers, and even strangers significantly impacted my eating patterns. 

Although some of the pressure I felt was self-imposed, much of it also came from external factors. On social media, I noticed how body-shaming insults were hurled at dietitians who were not skinny. The public assumes that nutritionists and dietitians represent the perfect picture of health, without realizing that “health” comes in many different shapes and sizes.

“There is definitely an image associated with the success of a health practitioner, and that image is thin,” Hayley Mauricio, U3 Science, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “This expectation further bleeds into social media. There is a world of health and fitness gurus that we look up to because they look good. But of course, social media is not representative of real life.”

Throughout my undergraduate studies, I have internalized many of my struggles, believing that I had to be the person with the answers, not the problems. To my surprise, I eventually learned that I was not alone with these feelings. Eating disorders are of concern in nutrition faculties around the globe: A study in 14 countries revealed that 77 per cent of nutrition professionals, including professors, teachers, and dietitians, felt that developing eating disorders are a concern for nutrition students. A 2015 study echoed these findings, reporting that female nutrition students experienced higher eating restraints and binge eating levels compared to non-nutrition students. 

Although these findings are not always consistent, there is a body of evidence to suggest that dietitians and nutritionists throughout the world may be at greater risk for disordered eating behaviour, binge eating, and orthorexia nervosa when compared to other professionals. 

Among the public, there is a stigma that nutrition practitioners should be free from food-related issues, such as orthorexia, by virtue of their training and expertise. Truthfully, we all harbour some expectations for professionals in any field of work: Many people would not trust a doctor who smokes. However, these expectations put an enormous amount of stress on students and professionals to look and act a certain way, without realizing that doing so can induce devastating health outcomes.

“I felt that I had to eat healthier to gain some credibility,” Michelle Hsieh, U3 Nutrition, said in an interview with the Tribune. “I remember people coming up to me and saying, ‘Wow, you’re in nutrition and you still eat so much junk food?’ This kind of pressure to always eat clean is not only damaging, it is also not right.”

Although nutrition is a science, food is personal––healthy eating is certainly not one-size-fits-all. One obvious solution to having a more inclusive approach to health is encouraging better representation among leaders in the field.

“The health and wellness industry has, since its inception, perpetuated the image of a white, thin, cisgender, and affluent woman,” Tarini Gupta, U3 Nutrition, said in an interview with the Tribune. “Needless to say, this image is extremely harmful, especially to young, impressionable girls, and needs to be changed.”

For several years, racialized individuals have been underrepresented in the fields of nutrition and dietetics, particularly in leadership ranks. According to the Commission on Dietetic Registration, over 70 per cent of dietitians in the U.S. are white. Although Canada lacks substantial race-based data in this field, the results from a 2018 study highlight the need for the Canadian dietetics field  to address systemic barriers that prevent ethnic minorities from becoming registered dietitians. These barriers exclude many individuals who do not identify with the Western-centric narrative of health, as seen by a lack of diverse food choices within the Canadian Food Guide. 

“I was not able to resonate with the tools and resources I was taught in class, such as the Canadian Food Guide,” Gupta said. “I grew up eating traditional Indian cuisine. While studying nutrition, I realized that my meals did not look like the ones illustrated in this guide, which made me feel like I was not eating correctly. Though the Canadian Food Guide has made efforts towards inclusivity […], it is still limited in terms of ethnic food accessibility, financial barriers, and an in-depth knowledge of non-Westernized eating patterns.”

As I continue my studies, I have realized the need for conversations surrounding culinary diversity, representation, and eating disorders in the nutrition field. To properly serve Canadians of all backgrounds, our training must reflect the diverse society we currently live in. 

The current disparity in nutrition promotes a narrow definition of health, one that is unrealistic and damaging to both the patient and the provider. By dismantling systemic barriers and training experts in the field to understand diverse backgrounds, we can begin to shift conversations surrounding health without sacrificing one’s culture and traditions or subjecting them to food guilt. 

For those struggling with disordered eating or an eating disorder, services such as the National Eating Disorders Association Helpline or SSMU’s Eating Disorder Resource & Support Centre may be able to help.

Editorial, Opinion

McGill 24 overlooks student demands

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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The annual McGill 24 fundraising event took place on March 10, with the university calling on its worldwide community—including alumni, faculty, staff and students—to donate. The funds raised contribute to McGill’s larger fundraising campaign, Made by McGill, which was introduced in September 2019 and seeks to raise two billion dollars ahead of the university’s upcoming bicentennial. At the time of its announcement, the campaign attracted significant criticism for its messaging. Despite that McGill often relies on student labour for soliciting funds and serving as university representatives, the administration has neglected to prioritize funding for causes that students have long been demanding, such as better mental health services. In future campaigns, McGill must make efforts to fund tangible solutions to improve the well-being of its students and better publicize its financial information to live up to its reputation.

McGill has consistently shown disregard for services that are crucial to students’ well-being. Last year, the Office for Students with Disabilities converted its paid notetaker jobs to volunteer positions after years of compensating notetakers’ time and effort. In 2017, the university cut funding to the Eating Disorder Program—an invaluable support service to students struggling with eating disorders or disordered eating. McGill’s insufficient mental health services are also of utmost concern, especially amidst a growing mental health crisis. Many of the university’s insufficient student services could be remedied if the university provides them with proper funding. 

When donating to the university, individuals have the option to choose which areas receive their contribution. Most of the categories promoted on the McGill Giving website revolve around research, innovation, and infrastructure projects, with only a few making specific references to opportunities for students. While all of these areas are undoubtedly important, it is surprising that in light of student concerns over a lack of support, more emphasis is not placed on providing better funding for student services as part of these campaigns. The Made by McGill campaign celebrates student and alumni success despite failing to acknowledge the activism and initiatives students create in response to inadequate support––as they did with the creation of the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Eating Disorder Resource and Support Centre. If the university were to highlight specific categories dedicated to improving student wellness, donors may be more likely to contribute.  

Perhaps McGill’s fundraising practices would be less insulting to students if the university publicized clearer fundraising reports in an effort to promote increased transparency. While donation records exist internally, the McGill Giving website includes only certain figures and a vague list of donors. Allowing for widespread, publicized access to these documents is key to holding the university accountable, but their concealment from students and donors only further ignites suspicions regarding the allocation of funds. 

Upon graduation, when University Advancement starts sending emails soliciting donations, young alumni can use their voices to send a clear message to the university that they do not intend to donate to certain initiatives unless their donations go toward meaningful causes. If alumni continue to donate to the university without questioning its practices, the administration will have no reason to adjust its priorities. 

For administrators to continue to receive donations in the current way while ignoring student demands for improved wellness services would be profoundly inconsiderate. If McGill is concerned with propelling itself into its third century, it can commit to meaningful equity initiatives like swiftly removing its outdated James McGill statue as demanded by its Black students. Students have a right to know where their money goes and to benefit from robust services that affect their actual campus experience. McGill’s rankings may speak to its research accomplishments, but they cannot mask its current students’ dissatisfaction. The administration must prioritize students’ health as it is the best way to set them up for success, ultimately making them more likely to think and speak positively of McGill in the future.

News, SSMU

SSMU Winter 2021 referendum endorsements

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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Increase of the SSMU Membership Fee: Yes

The proposed $1.20 increase to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Membership Fee will go toward hourly wages for student senators and Legislative Council members. Despite dedicating many hours to student government, representatives are currently unpaid, except in cases of demonstrated financial need. If approved, the fee would help fund the salaries for all senators and councillors starting in Fall 2021. A “yes” vote to increase the non–opt-outable fee would make positions within student government more accessible to all students, including those who are not eligible for Work Study or who cannot dedicate time to an unpaid position. Fairly compensating representatives for their labour is a crucial step toward making student government accessible.

Renewal of the Midnight Kitchen Fee: Yes

Midnight Kitchen is a volunteer and worker-run SSMU service that provides free meals for McGill students in Montreal. Prior to the pandemic, Midnight Kitchen served affordable vegan lunches on campus. The group is currently delivering food from their food bank and coordinating meal pick-ups for the McGill community. A renewal of the opt-outable $3.35 Midnight Kitchen fee will support these programs, which prioritize individuals facing food insecurity in Montreal. Additionally, a “yes” vote to the allocation of discretionary funding will allow Midnight Kitchen to continue using up to five per cent of its current fee budget to execute projects, initiatives, and events in line with its mandate. 

Renewal of the Safety Services Fee: Yes

A renewal of the non–opt-outable $3.97 Safety Services Fee will continue funding for the following campus services: DriveSafe ($0.60), McGill Student Emergency Response Team (MSERT) ($1.50), Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) ($1.75), and Walk Safe ($0.12). With the tentative return to on-campus activities in Fall 2021, these services will be necessary for students’ health and safety. If approved, WalkSafe and DriveSafe will continue ensuring that students return home safely from campus at night. MSERT will resume providing on-site first-aid and SACOMSS maintain resources for survivors of sexual violence; the two are vital services during in-person teaching. 

Peer Support Centre Fee: Yes

A vote to renew the Peer Support Centre (PSC) Fee of $0.62 per semester will sustain PSC operations, which include free peer counselling for students. Furthermore, a vote in favour of this renewal would eliminate the current PSC Fee as an independent fee and instead include it as part of McGill’s Referral Service Fee. The current Referral Service Fee provides funding for Nightline, the Union for Gender Empowerment, Queer McGill, and the Eating Disorder Resource and Support Centre. The addition of the PSC Fee to the opt-outable Referral Service Fee will increase its cost from $3.35 per semester to $3.97. 

Renewal of the Mental Health Fee: Yes

Renewing the $0.40 per semester Mental Health Fee will allow for the maintenance of the SSMU Mental Health Committee. A vote in favour also makes this fee non–opt-outable. Despite concerns from the student body regarding the insufficient mental health services offered at the McGill Wellness Hub, such as long-wait times and inaccessible booking, making this fund non–opt-outable will provide the Committee with a steady source of funding. It will also enable more concrete projects such as the creation of “Mental Health MyCourses,” an online wellness portal that would clarify avenues of accessing support for students. 

Renewal of the Anti-Violence Fee: Yes

By voting “yes” to renew the opt-outable Anti-Violence Fee, SSMU members will continue to fund the Gendered and Sexual Violence Policy (GSVP), which was created in 2018 after allegations of sexual violence were raised against SSMU employees. At $0.45 per term, this fund will allow for the expansion of the GSVP, including the hiring of two Anti-Violence Coordinators to oversee the policy’s implementation. This fee also supports the continuation of the GSVP training program and other discretionary funding for student initiatives, including advocacy campaigns and student-led gendered and sexual violence prevention training. 

Amendment of the SSMU Constitution: Yes

A “yes” vote to the proposed amendment to the SSMU Constitution will remove a line in Article 8.9 stating that councillors and legislators cannot be remunerated for their work, except in instances of financial need. If passed, students holding these positions would be eligible to receive an hourly wage starting in Fall 2021 provided the SSMU Base Fee Increase is also approved. This amendment improves accessibility to student government by opening doors to those without the means to hold an unpaid position. 

Renewal of the SSMU Access Bursary Fund Fee: Yes

A vote in favour of renewing the SSMU Access Bursary Fund will enable SSMU to continue providing bursaries to students in need of financial aid. The opt-outable fee is $8.50 for full-time students per semester and $4.25 for part-time students. The funds raised by this fee are matched by alumni donations and constitute one of McGill’s largest bursary funds. In the 2019-20 academic year, 367 undergraduate students who demonstrated financial need received a bursary from this fund. Since 1999, more than 2,500 students have received this bursary. 

Renewal of the University Centre Fee: Yes

This non–opt-outable semesterly fee of $8.02 for full-time students and $4.01 for part-time students will increase at a rate of 5.6 per cent annually until Winter 2026. If this fee passes, it will continue to fund the rent and utilities for the University Centre on campus, with any surplus directed towards renovation costs for the building. With the building renovations projected to wrap up this semester, students will reap the benefits of this fee once it is safe to return to campus.

Renewal of the TVM: Student Television at McGill Fee: Yes

A “yes” vote to the renewal of the opt-outable $1.50 per semester fee will allow TVM: Student Television at McGill to continue providing students both a creative outlet and a place to develop their multimedia and film production skills. TVM also live-streams and records events such as the SSMU Candidates Debate for the McGill community. After attending a training session, students gain free access to equipment for personal projects. TVM also serves as an alternative to McGill’s lack of a film production program.

Discretionary Funding for Queer McGill: Yes

A ‘yes’ to this motion will allow Queer McGill to offer up to 10 per cent of its budget as discretionary funding toward projects and initiatives in line with its mandate. Queer McGill is a support and educational service that aims to make campus safer for 2SLGBTQIA+ people. Queer McGill also offers several resources for safer sex, as well as gender-affirming products and menstruation supplies. This motion would permit Queer McGill to have greater autonomy in enacting their outreach iniatives. 

Renewal of the Access McGill Ancillary Fee: Yes

A vote “yes” to the renewal of the non-opt-outable $2.00 per semester fee will allow the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) to continue providing funding for services and resources that improve accessibility on campus for students with disabilities, mental health conditions, chronic health impairments, or other conditions. Such services include exam accommodations, assistive technology resources, and campus transport. Since 1988, the Access McGill Ancillary Fee has provided equipment and services to make campus facilities more accessible.

Renewal and Increase of the WUSC Student Refugee Program Fee: Yes to both

A “yes” vote to this motion will allow the McGill of the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) branch to execute its Student Refugee Program (SRP), which aims to settle three refugee students per year. The program sponsors the students’ expenses for one year, and allows them to gain permanent residency after arriving in Canada. A “yes” vote to renew the non–opt-outable fee of $2.00 per semester will allow the SRP to continue sponsoring students. Additionally, a vote in favour of the fee increase question would raise the fee from $2.00 to $4.00, enabling SRP to increase its sponsorship to four or five students per year. 

MSA Service Fee: Yes

The Muslim Students Association (MSA) hopes to create an opt-outable Service Fee of $0.99 through this referendum. The MSA offers resources and support to Muslim students at McGill, including prayer services, mental health services, educational classes, professional development services, and social events. A “yes” to the creation of this fee would support existing services and allow the MSA to further expand their services. Additionally, a “yes” vote to allocate discretionary funding will allow the MSA to devote 5.16 per cent of its fee budget to provide financial aid to Muslim students in need.

Renewal of the McGill Writing Centre Ancillary Fee: Yes

A “yes” to this fee will renew the McGill Writing Centre’s (MWC) non–opt-outable fee of $1.50 per semester. The MWC offers up to seven free hours of individualized writing consultations per term for each student. Tutors are experienced writing instructors with PhDs in their field or McGill alumni with tutoring experience. If renewed, the fee will go towards funding tutor and coordinator salaries. This fee will also enable the MWC to increase the number tutoring appointments to meet increased student demand.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Midnight Kitchen could allocate 20 per cent of its budget to discretionary funding. Midnight Kitchen allocates five per cent of its budget to discretionary funding. The Tribune apologizes for this error.

News, SSMU

Legislative Council approves policy against harmful military research

by Vanessa Barron on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council held its biweekly meeting on March 11, where members approved a motion to implement a policy on harmful military technology and introduced a new motion seeking to adopt an official harm reduction policy for substance use on campus. 

The policy regarding military technology demands increased transparency about military research at McGill, and mandates SSMU to engage in meaningful advocacy against harmful military research. While the Legislative Council approved the motion at their Feb. 11 meeting, the SSMU Board of Directors rejected the motion and sent it back to the Legislative Council for further review. The Board of Directors also brought the motion to the Steering Committee to check the factual validity of the citations and potentially add new ones.

Despite that 22 councillors voted in favour of the military research policy at their Feb. 11 meeting, councillors debated it for nearly 40 minutes during the second round of deliberations, and seven council members voted “no” to the motion. Arts Councillor Alex Karasick critiqued the policy’s unclear scope, but many members, including Vice-President (VP) Finance Gifford Marpole and VP University Affairs Brooklyn Frizzle, argued that the chance to debate the scope of the policy had long passed, already having been debated and approved one month prior.

Maya Garfinkel, U3 Arts student and research coordinator for Students for Peace and Disarmament, explained how the policy relates to the recently approved Divest for Human Rights Policy and encouraged more transparent research on campus.

“If the Divest for Human Rights Policy [had] an external focus, this is more of an inward-looking policy that unpacks how the research apparatus at McGill operates,” Garfinkel said. “We really do want to focus on maintaining a strong foundation for research so that students in all faculties have the research opportunities that they expect when they come to McGill. We are more focussed on exactly who is controlling the research that students are participating in.”

The motion passed with 15 in favour, seven opposed, and four abstentions. 

Next, Frizzle introduced a new motion regarding the adoption of a harm reduction policy for substance use on campus. Guest speaker Sarah Graham, vice-president of the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE), gave a presentation on McGill’s lack of resources for harm reduction regarding drug and alcohol abuse. The new policy aims to formalize a stance against de facto abstinence-only practices toward substance use in student residences and separates SSMU from Greek-letter organizations.

Frizzle affirmed the extensive student consultation and research on the harm reduction motion, which will be debated at the next Legislative Council meeting on March 25. 

“Generally speaking, I do believe that SSMU has generally good practices around harm reduction,” Frizzle said. “Unfortunately, those practices do not find themselves in any policies or internal procedures [….] We believe it is more important now than ever to formalize this stance and show our support for efforts around harm reduction.” 

Soundbite:

“Every single month, it feels like [Gerts’ reopening] gets delayed by a month due to government restrictions. I am gonna say [it will open by the] end of April, but take that with a grain of salt because things are changing every day. The reason why I kept Gerts on this budget […] is just in case it does open. If it does not, then essentially there are  no expenses and no revenues in the Gerts area. But [by the] end of April, hopefully—that’s the dream.” — SSMU VP Finance Gifford Marpole, on Gerts’ projected reopening during the question portion of the budget presentation. 

Moment of the meeting:

SSMU President Jemark Earle called for a one-minute moment of silence to honour the victims of COVID-19. 

 

Campus Spotlight, Student Life

McGill Black Mentorship program fosters valuable connections

by Lucy Keller on

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This past January, the McGill Black Alumni Association (MBAA) launched its newest initiative, the McGill Black Mentorship Program. Since the MBAA was founded in 2016, it has engaged McGill’s Black students by hosting several networking and professional support events. The Mentorship Program was spearheaded by MBAA co-founder Marilyn Ahun, (BA ‘15), alongside Shanice Yarde, Senior Advisor: Anti-Racism and Equity Education; Adrienne Piggott, chair of the Joint Board Senate Subcommittee on Racialized and Ethnic Persons; and Kavetia Dass, Alumni Relations, University Advancement. In creating the program, Ahun was motivated by the knowledge that she would have benefited from a mentor’s support during her undergraduate studies at McGill. 

“Before graduation, I really had no idea how to prepare for life after McGill,” Ahun said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I did not know what graduate programs I should be applying to, or if I should even be going to graduate school. I would have really appreciated having someone to bounce ideas off and someone who could tell me a general idea of what I should expect once I leave.”

The program, which began its first cohort in January, will pair current McGill students with alumni, staff, and faculty for an eight-month long period.  

While McGill has a general mentorship program, Ahun believes that a space dedicated for Black alumni, students, faculty, and staff is important to account for their unique circumstances: MBAA events help Black students navigate and combat challenges such as anti-Black racism on campus. The mentorship program strives to create a more intimate and personal setting to address these and other factors. 

“Whether we want to admit it or not, we experience life differently,” Ahun said. “There are some experiences a mentor could really help me with for my area of study, but their experiences won’t necessarily be the same as mine. I really wanted to create a program where alumni, faculty, and staff could help guide students as they navigate their lives in McGill and […] prepare for life after McGill.”

Mentors and mentees meet once at the beginning of the eight-month program and once at the end, though MBAA encourages students to connect with their mentors more frequently. Program organizers have created guidelines for both the mentors and mentees, but Ahun hopes that students and professionals will continue their relationships after the eight months.

The program is currently facilitating its first cohort of matches, with 100 students currently matched to over 80 mentors. While the majority of mentors are alumni, MBAA welcomes any staff, faculty, or even graduate students to become mentors. Mentors work in a wide variety of fields including medicine and healthcare, NGOs and engineering. The majority of current mentees are from the Faculty of Arts or Science, but MBAA hopes that the next round, set to launch in August, will see participants from even more fields.

The ongoing pandemic has forced the initiative to operate at a distance, with meetings between mentors and mentees mainly restricted to online platforms. While connecting virtually is not ideal, an online platform has likely increased participation in the program, as it has expanded its reach to participants located outside of Montreal. Though she is excited for future in-person meetings, Ahun is grateful for the online format, which has facilitated connections between Black students at McGill and alumni from around the world. 

“Obviously this is not a great situation and we hope to be in person soon, but it is nice to know that people across the world who are a part of the McGill community can participate,” Ahun said.

To learn more and sign up for the program, check out their Facebook, website, or information pamphlet.

Out on the Town, Student Life

Exploring Montreal’s funkiest architecture

by Dante Ventulieri on

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Some consider Montreal to be the mecca of culture in Canada—a city unafraid of risks—and its architecture reflects that. From lesser-known gems to cult classics, each building has its own unique history and style. With the weather warming up, but the lockdown still in effect, The McGill Tribune has compiled its list of funky buildings that are worth a visit during routine walks.

La Maison Coloniale

For over 30 years, La Maison Coloniale has been one of the most polarizing homes in the Plateau. Designed by architect Jacques Rousseau, this house is known for its imposing concrete structure, complete with clinging vines and embossed details. Its menacing size and cold exterior cleverly contrast the quaint multiplexes that surround it. This eccentric home sits on the corner of Avenue Coloniale and Rue Marie-Anne, a quick detour from Saint-Laurent Boulevard.

Habitat 67

Known as one of Montreal’s most unique buildings, Habitat 67 has maintained its allure for over 50 years. Nestled along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, the building consists of 354 prefabricated concrete modules connected via walkways and landscaped terraces. Habitat 67 was conceived by Moshe Safdie, who submitted the design as part of his master’s thesis for the School of Architecture at McGill. This architectural icon was originally built to house Expo 67 visitors, but has since been converted into luxury condos. Habitat 67 is worth the visit, and the walking tour is a must for those who want to experience the building up close post-pandemic.

Hôtel de ville de Saint-Louis

Constructed in 1905, the building previously served as a police station, fire station, post office, municipal court, and town hall for the former city of Saint-Louis. The architects and elected officials behind the project paid homage to French Renaissance castles by incorporating turrets, dungeons, and machicolations. Though it was originally conceived to be an unpretentious civic centre, its intricate architecture and masonry led to final costs being double that of estimates. Its expensive construction indebted the city, with Montreal annexing the municipality only five years after the building’s inauguration. Today, the building houses a fire station, an auxiliary firefighter dispatch, and the Museum of Montreal Firefighters.

2-22

2-22, located at the intersection of Rue Sainte-Catherine and Saint-Laurent Boulevard, is the most modern entrant on this list. The building was completed in 2012 to revitalise the area, which had been known for decades as the Red Light district of Montreal. This six-storey building is a dedicated cultural hub whose tenants include a radio station, an information centre, a documentation centre, an arts centre, and a bistro. The most eye-catching aspect of the building is its recessed glass entrance which not only enhances the look of the building, but also allows more pedestrians to walk along the busy street. At night, the building is illuminated by multimedia presentations that are displayed on the unique facade of its double wall structure. 

Pink House

At first glance, the abandoned Canada Malting Co. plant in Montreal’s Saint-Henri borough looks like any other decrepit industrial tower. In late 2019, the two cabins on top of the building were painted pink and red and decorated with green curtains. During the holiday season, the cabins feature a Christmas tree along with other decorations. The person or group behind the painted cabins is unknown, and the display remains shrouded in mystery. According to one of the building’s owners, a trek to the top entails a dangerous 40-foot climb on a ladder. Since being abandoned in 1985, the owners have attempted to discourage intruders, but to little effect: The facility remains popular in the urbex community, which is comprised of people who share a common interest in exploring the built environment. With demolition or renovations expected in the future, a visit here should be done sooner rather than later. 

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘It’s A Sin’ breaks your heart—and it should

by Noma Mirny on

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Gutsier than The Inheritance, gentler than Angels in America, younger than The Normal Heart, crueler than Falsettos, yet more hopeful than 1985: It’s A Sin is a revolutionary depiction of the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic. 

The historical mini-series created by Russel T. Davies (Doctor Who, Queer As Folk) centres on a group of young people living in Thatcher-era London. Set between 1981 and 1991, the show follows actor-to-be Ritchie Tozer (Olly Alexander), first-generation immigrant Roscoe Babatunde (Omari Douglas), and Welsh-accented wallflower Colin Morris-Jones (Callum Scott Howells) as they delve into the city’s nightlife. By the end of the pilot episode, all three characters end up sharing a flat dubbed the “Pink Palace,” with Ritchie’s sweet-hearted classmate, Jill Baxter (Lydia West), and his friend-with-benefits, Ash Mukherjee (Nathaniel Curtis).

Davies explores his characters with such nuance and care—combining fumbling anxiety and insecurity, intense rage and liberated desire, inexperience and limitless ambition—that each one becomes deeply relatable. We can recognize traces of these young people in our classmates, family, friends, and even in ourselves. 

But as these young men develop their careers, switch college majors, and party through London’s bustling queer nightlife, the audience knows what they do not—that the shadow of HIV/AIDS hangs over their lives. Colin, who struggles most of all to find a sense of community, seeks the mentorship of an older gay coworker, Henry Coltrane (Neil Patrick Harris), only to see him disappear from work soon after. Colin finds Henry weeks later, forcefully separated from his partner, and locked in an isolated hospital room unexpectedly diagnosed with lung cancer. Simultaneously, Roscoe is hired as a club manager tasked with kicking out older gay men for distributing information pamphlets about “GRID” (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency)—an early term for HIV/AIDS.

Aside from its unprecedented U.K.-centric focus, It’s A Sin is a unique addition to AIDS-era media for its exploration of mass confusion and miscommunication-fueled fear. For such a tragic topic, Ritchie makes for an unusual protagonist as a brazen party-boy. Flitting from pub to pub, Ritchie is seen mocking the notion of a disease that only kills gay men. He disputes his friends, cheekily laughing at a disease that can supposedly calculate someone’s sexuality or target H-named demographics (Haitians, Homosexuals, Hemophiliacs).

The monologue ends with Ritchie, arms open and about to kiss a random club-goer, yelling to the camera, “How do I know [AIDS] is not true? I’m not stupid!”

Months later while Ritchie is out partying, his friend Gregory dies alone in his apartment.

While most contemporary queer storylines continue to be dominated by gay white men, the show masterfully incoporates an intersectional analysis of systemic oppression. Through Roscoe’s character, a first-generation Nigerian-British gay man, the show explores queerness in immigrant households and touches on issues of racism and classism. At one point, Roscoe works as an escort for the racist and elitist Tory MP Arthur Garrison (Stephen Fry). The power imbalance between the two begs the question as to why Black, Indigenous and people of colour within the queer community have to work harder to obtain a smidge of the wealth and power afforded to straight-passing white aristocrats. 

Although the show is not wholly perfect—and there is something to be said about the underdevelopment of Jill’s character and the exclusion of queer women who helped in the fight for HIV/AIDS research—it is, overall, a tour de force. Timely in its release during our own pandemic and magnificent in execution, the magic of It’s A Sin lies in its humanity; never are the characters given the relief of being political heroes or melodramatic martyrs. Without romanticizing their death, it insists on remembering  them—and the people they represent—for the friendships they fostered, the fun they had, and above all, the love they shared, even if only for a moment.

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