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Commentary, Opinion

The CAQ’s secular mission masks discrimination

by Kennedy McKee-Braide on

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The Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) recently announced its intention to abolish the mandatory Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) course taught in schools around the province. The decision comes less than a year after Bill 21, a law that prohibits certain public servants from wearing religious symbols, passed in the National Assembly. Some have called the move to end the course an extension of Québec’s commitment to ‘secularism.’ The CAQ has also launched a consultative survey that invites the public to suggest new themes for the course’s replacement, which will partially or wholly abandon religious topics. Like in the case of Bill 21, Québec is using the separation of government and religion to mask its xenophobia. Ending ERC courses will ultimately be harmful to the province’s youth, who stand to benefit from the added understanding of the province’s multitude of religions. 

  Created in 2008 under the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party, the course, which looks into the vast array of different cultures in the province and encourages students to consider ethical dilemmas, has remained controversial since its outset. Following its introduction, the Supreme Court of Canada considered : One in which parents complained that the course went against the religious and moral beliefs they taught at home and another, Loyola High School v Quebec AG, where a Catholic private school fought against having to teach students about morality in the context of other religions. While the Court ruled against the parents in the first case, their decision in the latter led to an exemption for some private institutions from having to teach the course. 

 In this context, it becomes clear that numerous interest groups in Quebec are more preoccupied with avoiding exposure to a diverse range of religions than protecting secularism, as the CAQ claims. In 2009, sociologist Joëlle Quérin published an article that denounced the course, claiming that it went too far in promoting multiculturalism and served to fundamentally change the nature of Quebec’s culture, traditionally conceived of as French-speaking and Catholic. 

Querin’s view is representative of a broader debate between proponents of multiculturalism and those of ‘interculturalism’: The latter claims to stand in defence of a common Québécois French culture that integrates newcomers into a secular society as opposed to encouraging cultural pluralism. ‘Interculturalism’  is supposedly the logic behind Bill 21, and now the decision on ERC courses. The consultative survey outlines eight potential themes for the replacement class: Citizen participation and democracy, legal education, green citizenship, sexuality, personal development and interpersonal relationships, ethics, digital citizenship, and societal culture. These themes, the government claims, are meant to reflect the values of a modern, secular Quebec. However, these themes can and should stand alongside the currently existing religious component of the course.

Despite their alleged commitment to secularism, the actions of some CAQ politicians suggest other priorities. As of 2011, 82.36 per cent of Quebec residents identified as Christian, and 75 per cent as Catholic more specifically. Premier Francois Legault drew criticism in December for telling California Governor Gavin Newsom that all French Canadians are Catholic. Legault’s comment exemplifies how Quebec politicians use the secularism argument only when it serves them, and evidently to specifically target religious minorities. 

The fact that such a large proportion of Quebecers practice a single religion reinforces the need for a course like ERC. Despite McGill’s location in a relatively multicultural city, a large portion of Québec’s population is rural, and many Québecers have little exposure to cultures other than their own. As such, ERC can serve to introduce those living in less diverse areas to different cultures. Doing away with this course means that some students may be less likely to learn about religious acceptance, which could be particularly damaging to religious minorities in the context of rising immigration rates in the province and country. 

There is no doubt that the new themes that the education ministry has proposed are important and relevant. However, it seems clear that the priority in scrapping ERC is to avoid teaching students religious tolerance. Unfortunately, the CAQ’s policies are popular, and the changes will likely be made before the end of Premier Legault’s mandate. Still, as young people living in Quebec, McGill students opposed to these policies have a responsibility to organize with faculty associations, contact Members of the National Assembly to voice their disapproval, go to demonstrations against discriminatory policies, similar to the Jan. 17 student protest, and defend those made vulnerable by the province’s xenophobia. 

Science & Technology

Immortalizing the mortal: Merging art and medicine

by Angelina Giordano on

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At its annual ‘Immortalizing the Mortal’ event in November 2019, the Maude Abbott Medical Museum revealed its chosen specimen: A uterus with large leiomyoma (or fibroids), benign tumours that occur when smooth tissue or connective tissue grows in the uterus. The event, which uses medical specimens to inspire artists and celebrate the artistic prowess of the participants, aims to explore the intersection of art and science to enable mortals to be immortalized through art focussing on their mystic medical histories. The specimen, which should be ‘artistically clothed with flesh,’ may be expressed through poetry, sketch, photography, or any other medium. 

The Maude Abbott Medical Museum opened around the same time as the founding of the Montreal General Hospital in 1822 and the Montreal Medical Institute in 1823. The Holmes heart, acquired by McGill’s first Dean of Medicine Dr. Andrew Holmes in 1824, is the museum’s oldest and most recognizable specimen. In 1899, the museum was curated by Maude Abbott, the first woman to graduate from McGill with a Bachelor of Arts and the first woman to be admitted into McGill’s Faculty Club. After being denied entry into McGill’s medical school, Abbott went on to transform the medical museum into one of the best teaching museums in North America.

Richard Fraser, a pathologist at the McGill University Health Centre and curator of the museum, supervised the event. Fraser explained that the museum uses the specimens in the way that they were traditionally meant to be used, for analysis and medical diagnosis. However, hosting a creative event uncovers another side of the specimen. His vast knowledge on the topic allows event guests to learn about both pathology at McGill and the history of the field. 

Pathology is a type of medical science in which scientists study surgically removed organs and tissues to diagnose disease. There are three different kinds of pathology: Cytopathology, molecular, and surgical pathology. Cytopathology is used to diagnose diseases such as cancer at the cellular level, while in molecular pathology, scientists study the molecules within the organs, tissues, and bodily fluids of the subject to diagnose and classify disease, such as cancer. For the 2019 specimen, participants applied surgical pathology, which involves examining tissues with the naked eye to provide a definitive diagnosis of the disease.

“The idea was to have an exercise whereby we get a specimen [that] clearly shows pathology but to treat it in a way that brings out the different aspects of the specimen,” Fraser said. “In other words, […] we take a structure […] and then find just the shapes or colours and the way it’s lined up […] or to try and look at the specimen from the point of view of the person that it came from.”

Fraser asked event participants to describe the specimen but not give it a diagnosis, before guessing what part of the body it was.

“I see circles and it’s symmetrical on both sides,” Henriette, a first-year Medicine student, said. “From what I can see it’s quite even, but there’s like a piece here that’s missing.” 

Henriette guessed that the specimen was a brain, after which Fraser revealed the actual name.

“In fact, it’s a uterus, so you’re at the wrong end of the body,” Fraser said. “That’s an ovary, that sac, so this is an ovarian cyst, and the uterus has this whirl structure to it.”

The event staff hope that fellow participants will be similarly inspired by the shape or story of the specimen. All of the submissions of art will be presented at the wine and cheese on Jan. 17 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. 

Features

Finding your place

by Leanne Young on

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At a large school like McGill, located in the epicentre of an even bigger city like Montreal, it is easy to feel lost and isolated. Many students are stressed by academic pressure, being far from home, and the pressures of living independently. It is normal to feel alone at first, and it may take some effort before you find your community. However, here is a plethora of opportunities to help find your place on campus. Whether you decide to join a new club, hang out and study in a new place, or talk to new people in class, it all starts with a single step outside of your comfort zone. Here are just some of the many opportunities worth exploring on campus.

Creative

Word on the Y | New Year’s resolutions

by Sarah Ford and Aidan Martin on

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With a new decade and the beginning of the winter semester, we asked some McGill students what 2020 means to them, and what resolutions they have for the new year.

Video by Multimedia Editors Sarah Ford and Aidan Martin

Sports

Inside Montreal’s ultimate scene

by Adam Burton on

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We’ve all spent a warm summer day lazily throwing a frisbee around with our friends. But if one were to go to Parc Jeanne-Mance on a sunny Sunday afternoon, they would find a group of adults throwing a disc in ways you would not think were possible. With full uniforms, cleats, and players barking directions at each other, this looks more like a game of football or basketball than the friendly, carefree context that usually accompanies the graceful toss of a frisbee. This is ultimate, and it’s been growing, quietly, since its founding in 1968. 

The first ultimate team was forged in a high school parking lot in the heart of suburban New Jersey by high schooler Joel Silver, later known for producing The Matrix. The teams were separated into student government versus school-newspaper kids and were first coached by a janitor who had some spare time. Silver had invented a new sport with soaring discs, endless possibilities for creative growth, and most importantly, ‘spirit of the game’: A loose concept that emphasizes the burden of sportsmanship and the responsibility of governance on the player. Thus, ultimate is the only sport that operates without referees at every level. The “win first” mentality that is so heavily encouraged in other sports is regarded with disdain in ultimate.

Ultimate has grown from a borderline joke in a parking lot into a professional sport with paid contracts and touring teams. Its development can be attributed to growth throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, with the initial founders bringing ultimate to their colleges and laying the foundation for what would evolve into a competitive international sport. 

Today, ultimate has grown to the professional level, but those who play know that the real basis for the sport lies in the intense, tight-knit club and intramural scene that exists in almost every major urban area in North America. Every week, communities of eccentric and competitive players of all backgrounds, ages, and skill levels gather for a few hours of unadulterated, exhilarating fun.

Everybody has a different story for how they got involved in ultimate. Gwany Patenaude had been a lifelong athlete when she picked up ultimate as her primary sport in secondary school. Previously, she was a swimmer, but found herself without a sport, and so she decided to reestablish her CEGEP ultimate team. 

“I thought the combination of the team aspect of the sport [and] how much you could improve individually is what really drew me in,” Patenaude said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. 

Within three months, she joined Team Quebec and, later, Team Montreal as well. As a CEGEP student, she balances playing on two high-level teams, on top of coaching the McGill Men’s B ultimate team. 

For Kevin Quinlan, a professional player for the Montreal Royal, ultimate started as a more casual activity.  

“It started more […] like a social event than [as] a competitive thing for us,” Quinlan said in an interview with the Tribune. “We were just hanging out. Frisbee was just complementing the goofy people we were. It was when I got to college that I realized that this was more of a competitive sport, and […] people take it really seriously.”

For those who play it, ultimate is a lot more than a sport; everybody has their own reasons for loving the game.

“At first, it was really just a way to hang out with […] a really cool group of people,” Quinlan said. “But then it became the creativity you can use within the sport. There’s a lot of different ways to win. You’re always learning [and] adapting to different situations. That’s what I really love about the game.” 

For Patenaude, it is the sense of community that lies at the core of the game that she believes makes ultimate so appealing. 

“When you’re playing the game, it doesn’t matter [if you are] advanced or [a] beginner, you are all together,” Patenaud said. “I started out as a beginner, surrounded by people on national teams, and felt accepted.” 

The level of acceptance and fair style of play speaks to the sense of community that runs deep and is integral to the sport itself. The “spirit of the game” concept has been ingrained in ultimate since its founding in 1968 and is still taken very seriously. The American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) maintains the player-officiated structure of the game, only recently implementing the use of “observers” who help mediate disagreements between teams. On the more local pick-up scene, the ‘spirit of the game’ translates to more than just sportsmanship and a self-officiated game: Players take pride in creating a competitive yet accepting and fun environment that prioritizes a sense of inclusivity and fun, which is lacking in most other competitive sports. 

“I’ve very rarely seen anyone intentionally try to abuse the rules or be unsportsmanlike,” second-year computer science student Adrien Philardeau-Planche of the McGill Men’s B team said. “There is always a high level of respect between opponents, and games essentially always remain fair, even though there are no referees in the sport. People play hard, but they don’t play dirty [….] The same can be said about Montreal’s Frisbee community. It’s very Québécois, very friendly, and quite competitive. It’s a lot of fun.”

In Montreal, ultimate flourishes every week through rain, sleet, and snow. Montrealers meet up in self- or club-organized groups to compete and have fun. Ultimate Grand Montreal, a volunteer based group, has been facilitating the growth of the community since 1993 with a mission of “encouraging the practice and development of recreational and competitive ultimate in the Montreal metropolitan area, by promoting and upholding the Spirit of the Game.” Today, UGM organizes dozens of leagues all throughout Montreal in addition to facilitating outreach programs to teach children, encourage development, and reinforce the values of hard work and the spirit of the game. 

Ultimate also exists in open pickup groups, a more casual and less organized form of the game. Every week, groups of university students, tourists, Mile-End tech professionals, and even middle-aged doctors talk on Facebook and schedule meeting times. People from across the city toss their bikes and work bags into a haphazard pile on the side of a field, and don light or dark shirt in accordance with a loosely adhered-to lights and darks policy. Then the frisbee takes flight and everything else is left behind.

“What’s unique about Montreal is that there [are] so many ways to get involved in ultimate, and to learn ultimate, and that’s really what’s unique about the city,” Quinlan said. “In smaller towns, it’s really hard to find that community. [Here,] you can start and work your way up from any level.”

Ultimate’s popularity is growing in Montreal, with kids, for the first time, picking it up at a young age. Pathenaude, who co-captains the McGill Men’s B Team, was especially surprised by her experience coaching youth outreach ultimate programs. 

“I had never met so many kids who were only playing ultimate […] as their primary sport,” Pathenaud said. “They were nailing throws I didn’t learn until I was 17.” 

Kids picking up the sport at younger and younger ages speaks wonders for the growth of ultimate in future years. The graceful, floating nature of the disc, the intricate strategic positioning and cuts, and the free flowing nature of the game, along with the endless possibilities for creativity, truly make for the ultimate sport.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Weathering the storm of aerosol emissions

by Caroline Lou on

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There has long been concern surrounding the environmental impacts of extracting oil from Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands, the world’s third largest oil reserve. According to a McGill-led study published in Environmental Pollution, contamination from the Athabasca oil sands is impacting the weather patterns of nearby regions. The study was led by Parisa Ariya, a professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Ariya worked with McGill PhD candidate Rodrigo Rangel-Alvarado, as well as other collaborators from the Université de Montréal, the University of Alberta, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

The  researchers found that snow from areas surrounding the oil sands had much higher concentrations of particulate matter than snow from downtown Montreal. The atmospheric pollutants near the oil sands were also more efficient at ice nucleation—a process involved in the formation of clouds—than dust particles normally found in the atmosphere. This is because snow-borne particles from the Athabasca oil sands region have a higher mean freezing temperature than mineral dust. 

Snow from areas surrounding the Athabasca oil sands also had a high concentration of particles greater than 100 nanometres in size, two orders of magnitude higher than snow from Montreal. Additionally, most concentrations of metals, including chromium, nickel, copper, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, and lead, were higher in snow samples taken near the oil sands.

Ariya mentioned that there are feedbacks between air pollution, weather, and climate, which affect how pollution-induced changes to weather patterns can interact with other climate change impacts. Aerosols affect cloud properties such as the initiation, frequency, intensity, and quantity of precipitation, and can alter natural processes, such as floods and droughts.

“Climate change is known to affect urban pollution, which is the main source of climate change driving factors,” Ariya wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “Similarly, the weather conditions impact air pollution, and weather, as we show[ed] in this study, is also impacted by air pollution. In short, these three processes are linked.” 

Moreover, the ability of aerosols from the oil sands to be captured in clouds means that these pollutants can be spread to other areas through precipitation, causing damage to ecosystems, wildlife, and public health. Ariya cited reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and World Health Organization (WHO), although she noted that these intergovernmental organizations recognize the need for further research. She described how the impacts of air pollutants are not completely understood, as scientists still have to do further research into the physicochemical characteristics of aerosols, such as size and composition, to understand how they interact with clouds.

“The [IPCC and WHO] concurred that particulate air pollutants are their utmost knowledge gap,” Ariya wrote. “Air pollution is linked to eight million premature deaths worldwide every year.”

Despite the lack of knowledge on health impacts of particulate air pollutants, emissions from the Athabasca oil sands operations have been linked to health risks, such as increased likelihood of developing cancer and respiratory problems. 

“I think that we opened up a closed door to show that anthropogenic airborne nanoparticles can play [a] key role in weather processes, which [has] not [been] considered before,” Ariya wrote. “It builds […] on our leading contributions on air and snow nano-emerging compounds in urban centres or other polluted sites, such as oil sands covered in this study, and their importance in both health and climate research.” 

In the meantime, Ariya’s lab is conducting further research to explore the effects of other major industrial pollutants. The lab is also developing novel sustainable technology for air and water pollution remediation, as well as for the detection of gaseous and particulate matter, which will play an important role in tackling the mounting problems associated with anthropogenic pollution.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV, Pop Rhetoric

Pop Dialectic: ‘Cats’ divides theatre aficionados

by Kyle Dewsnap, Gabe Nisker on

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Every generation has its signature so-bad-it’s-good movie: Before there was The Room, there was Showgirls, then Plan 9 From Outer Space. This week, The McGill Tribune decided to investigate Cats, the newest addition to this canon. 

A real cat-astrophe

Gabe Nisker 

One cat takes a couple of attempts to launch Bustopher Jones, performed by top-billed James Corden in one of two fat-shaming roles, the other from Rebel Wilson, into a garbage can so he can eat. It doesn’t work: Corden lands on the rim of the garbage can, and squarely on where his human genitals would be. It hurts, obviously, and it is played for laughs, because the film loves focussing the camera on crotches. Director Tom Hooper’s Cats movie is surprisingly and incredibly sexualized, usually to its detriment. The characters give longing looks, sidle up to, and nuzzle each other far too often.

Hooper’s bizarre directorial decision to use the same shaky camerawork he employed in his 2012 adaptation of Les Miserables often makes the work feel like a nature documentary, minus the David Attenborough narration. However, unlike the other 2019 musical nature documentary The Lion King, Cats does not depict anything resembling a feline on screen. The computer-generated fur in Hooper’s film is patchy and incomplete: Dame Judi Dench, whose lazy performance suggests that her check must have cleared prior to shooting the film, wears her wedding ring on her visible human hands. When antagonist cat Macavity (Idris Elba) removes his fur—yes, many cats have fur coats on top of, well, fur coats—to reveal a six-pack, the audience gasped. Sure, Elba is handsome—a key factor for those suggesting he play James Bond—but his furry body is more like Frankenstein’s Monster than a suave British spy.

Ultimately, Cats is an absolute trainwreck. The choosing of the Jellicle Choice—the winning cat of what appears to be a singing competition—is one of the major plot points of the film. The winning cat is floated up to the Heaviside Layer, which is the film world’s version of Heaven. Despite these references to paradise, the film presents something more hellish.

 

Cats is purr-fect

Kyle Dewsnap

Cats is a movie that, arguably, should never have existed. However, seeing that Universal and Andrew Lloyd Weber decided to curse Tom Hooper with turning the infamous Broadway show into a feature film, the director did absolutely everything in his power to make sure that his Cats was the best it could possibly be. In the end, he ended up creating one of the most fascinating movies that I have ever seen.

Even when performed onstage, Cats  is already a horribly awkward thing to watch: The show is comprised of two and a half hours of spandex-wearing actors introducing themselves to the audience as they all compete to be the next cat to die and be reborn. Hooper’s movie is strongest when it fully embraces this awkwardness. In the best scene of the movie, we see Skimbleshanks, played by Australian ballerino Steven McRae, lead a row of other cats as they tap dance on a railway line towards King’s Cross station, making for an absolutely delightful musical number. However, the movie also has startling moments of self-awareness where it acknowledges how embarrassing the subject matter is. This leads Hooper to make bold creative choices to distract the audience from the singing furries, such as making Jason Derulo waterboard James Cordon with CGI champagne. These scenes are incredibly disturbing, lending Cats the same horrifying energy reminiscent of a middle school’s theatre production.

As a result, Cats remains engaging throughout its entire 109 minute runtime, which cannot be said of many films. Watching Cats is like being unable to look away from a five-car pileup on the side of the highway. It’s degenerate, ugly to look at, and will haunt me for weeks to come.

Student Life, The Viewpoint

Fostering cats as an introspective exercise

by Michelle Chen on

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The process of fostering a cat begins with reading a description: A female rescued from a kitten mill, vet work in process; a friendly grey female cat of two months—not yet vaccinated but treated for fleas.

When you make the decision to foster a cat, you go in with no expectations of commitment; the rescue organization may have already found a permanent home for it. The process of your local shelter is equally simple, requiring some paperwork and a meeting. Once a cat has been assigned to you, the only thing left to do next is to wait, and before long, a majestic creature will come swishing its tail through your door and into your heart.

I chose to foster rather than adopt due to career and financial instability. As my time as an undergraduate student at McGill comes to an end, I am still uncertain of whether I will return home to the West Coast, remain in Montreal, or move overseas in my next step of life. I would be devastated if I had to give up a cat because I could not take it with me. I also have limited financial resources as a student and would not be able to afford treatment if the cat became sick. Fostering takes the stress off of permanence, but, as with all temporary things, it also teaches the importance of letting go.

I once took in a green-eyed tortoiseshell cat named Sophia who would creep out of hiding on cautious paws then bolt back beneath the bed as soon as I turned my gaze in her direction. We tangoed in this manner for eight months—a slow, wary step forward followed by a fast, frantic scramble back, then a tense and dramatic pause before the dance repeated. My frustration mounted as the days inched by without any show of affection from her. It was like living with a roommate who actively avoided me and, worse, was also scared of me. I missed the affection of my previous foster cats who set about exploring and even snuggling in my lap within minutes of opening the carrier door. 

Sophia embodied all the qualities that anti-cat people find fault in. She was aloof, indifferent,  even impertinent. She recoiled from my attempts to befriend her and her only response to my gentle coos was a frightened stare with her cavernous black pupils. For god’s sake, I just want to love you, I wanted to shout. It took months of gentle cajoling before Sophia eventually warmed up to me. I cannot adequately describe the whirlwind of emotions that churned in my heart the first time she leapt into my lap, purring and butting her head into my hands. It was a mix of relief, joy, and validation.

Our period of unfettered friendship was short-lived. Sophia was adopted a year after she came to me, just weeks after she first opened up to the idea of snuggles. I was sad to let her go, but I like to think I played a part in showing her the better side of human nature. She entered her new home with more trust than she arrived with at mine.

The fostering process ends with letting go. It’s the last and essential step, and the one that I hate the most. It teaches you that it is impossible to force a good thing to last forever, momentous tides of change, such as moving away after graduation, means both the humans and furry friends in our life, may go in separate paths. It teaches you that it will be alright; the love and memories were worth it.

News, SSMU

SSMU plans for affordable student housing enters consultation phase

by Ezra-Jean Taylor on

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Since 2015, the partnership between the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and L’Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant (UTILE) has worked to maintain affordable rent and educated students on real-estate practices and tenants’ rights. A 2018 report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that Montreal’s vacancy rate has dropped by 1 percent between 2017 and 2018.

In 2019, SSMU continued its fight for affordable student housing by introducing a project in collaboration with UTILE to look into the potential for constructing affordable housing specifically for McGill students. In October 2019, SSMU created the Affordable Housing Committee dedicated to the issue making progress on this issue. SSMU Vice-President (VP) External Adam Gwiazda-Amsel is on the committee and is organizing a town hall meeting on Jan. 27 to gain insight on students’ priorities.

“We are trying to solicit feedback from students about what their priorities for a living space are,” Gwiazda-Amsel said. “What are the sort of qualities [SSMU] should look for in the building and its residents? Aside from the building project, the Affordable Housing Committee also felt the need to educate students about housing rights because this is also why rents go up.”

The committee will invite UTILE directors, McGill Legal Information Clinic members, and people from the Milton-Parc community to help educate students on rent-control, which will help control rent prices in the long term.

“Different communities have seen success with tenant strikes and information campaigns about exploitative rent practices,” Gwiazda-Amsel said. “For example, a landlord can only raise your rent two per cent a year in Montreal, but a lot of students do not know that.”

Along with teaching students, SSMU is working with UTILE to design housing for McGill students, created by McGill students. UTILE’s General Coordinator Laurent Levesque works in collaboration with SSMU.

“We are working towards the biggest possible project,” Levesque said. “Our working target at the moment is to build at least 300 beds [within five years]. In the short term, we are aiming to confirm this and other project parameters in a contract between UTILE and SSMU before the summer so we can get to work looking for land [and] designing the building.”

Even with SSMU and UTILE’s operating budget, space and resources are limited for making affordable student housing.

“We are also in talks with the City of Montreal to make sure they continue to fund affordable student housing,” Levesque said. “[Montreal] has [done so] for our Woodnote project in collaboration with the Concordia Student Union and our Angus project. That will be the key to taking affordable student housing to an even higher level.”

Levesque also stressed the importance of educating students on housing rights as a long-term tool to fight against rent increases.

“There is a lot of helpful advice on how to find a decent place in Montreal and how to fix problems you might have with your landlord, flatmates, et cetera,” Levesque said. “Montreal is facing a serious housing crisis and one way that affects students’ lives is that it can take much more time and effort than before to find an affordable flat. I recommend budgeting plenty of time when you start looking. If you’re planning on moving, consider looking into apartment swaps, that help keep rents low.”

Members of the Milton-Parc community will also attend the town hall to teach students based on the community’s experience with fighting rent increases. SSMU Community Affairs coordinator Claire Grenier works with the Milton-Parc community. 

“Milton-Parc [residents] have always been avid organizers,” Grenier said. “Right now, [we are] working on campaigns to combat one of the greatest causes of higher rents, AirBnb. Hopefully McGill students can take inspiration from the community’s work and start more co-op student housing, or educate themselves about the effects of AirBnb on neighborhoods like Milton Parc.”

Students can visit UTILE’s website, likehome.info, to gather more information about tenant’s rights.

Student Life

Winter on two wheels

by Janine Xu on

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The removal of BIXI bikes every November can only mean one thing: Winter is coming. For some, this spells the end of biking season, but many Montrealers continue to bike even during the long, cold months. In fact, the number of winter cyclists in Montreal rose by 14 per cent in 2017, according to Vélo-Québec.

Among them is Tommy O’Neill Sanger, U3 Science and volunteer at The Flat Bike Collective. He is not deterred by the harsh conditions of the winter months. 

“I [bike to school] everyday,” O’Neill Sanger said. “It’s quite common, a lot of my friends do [it,  too]. There are definitely less people [biking] on the road in the winter, but every year, I’m seeing more and more people.”

In order to prepare their bikes for the winter, many cyclists switch to snow tires. Studded tires, a type of snow tire with metal studs embedded in the treads, provide good traction on icy roads, but are also heavier, which makes for a slower ride. According to Vélo Québec, a common tip for slippery roads is to let a bit of air out of the tires for better grip, but to not go below the minimum pressure recommended by the specific manufacturer. Moreover, salt on roads can cause  friction for bikes and can wear out the chains. But, as O’Neill Sanger assured, as long as bikes are cleaned frequently, once or twice a week, salt corrosion should not be too much of a problem. 

“In the winter, […] I put tires on that have more tread [than my normal tires…] [but they are not] specifically meant for snow,” O’Neill Sanger said. “Although some good winter tires have metal in them, [some, like mine, don’t]. [Bike parts], such as derailleurs or brakes, [can freeze] in the winter. One of the solutions is to have a single-speed or fix-gear bike so [there is no derailleur and] it’s a lot simpler and [requires] less maintenance.”

A common issue in the winter is that many of Montreal’s bike lanes lack a physical divider between bikes and vehicles, which, when combined with ice patches or thick snow, can create dangerous conditions for cyclists.

“The main thing is to be aware of the conditions [on the road],” O’Neill Sanger said. “You have to watch out for patches of ice or thick snow. Roads get thinner because snow doesn’t get cleared perfectly, and you bike more towards the middle of the road, which can be dangerous.”

O’Neill Sanger suggests planning your journey beforehand to stay safe on the roads. Some cyclists prefer to switch to smaller roads where there are fewer cars, but often these roads are not plowed as well. However, he believes that Montreal’s bike infrastructure has seen improvement in recent years, allowing for safer cycling in the winter.

“We’ve seen a lot of progress in recent years in the maintenance of biking routes,” O’Neill Sanger said. “Often, [some] bike paths are the first to get cleared. Sometimes you find a bunch of pedestrians on the bike paths just because the sidewalks aren’t cleared. [But] there is [definitely] still room for improvement, and it’s not perfect.”

Still, O’ Neill Sanger maintains that the fear behind winter biking is definitely unfounded.

“It’s definitely good to do some research to figure out how to [bike] safely, but I definitely recommend it to [all cyclers], even beginners,” O’Neill Sanger said, “Most days throughout the winter, the streets are clear and quite safe [.…] For the most part, you can often ride on the same bike [as you would] ride in the summer.”

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