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McGill, News

Redpath Première Moisson lease up for renewal

by Ezra-Jean Taylor on

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In 2014, McGill decided to replace the Tim Hortons in the Redpath-McLennan library with Première Moisson, a Quebec–based café chain. Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) made this decision without consulting the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). In a Sept. 25 address the same year, Vice-President University Affairs Joey Shea discussed meeting with the director of SHHS about students’ concerns with Première Moisson. Shea stressed students’ worries about Première Moisson’s high prices and lack of communication from the school. McGill now faces a similar situation once again.

At the end of the 2018-19 school year, Première Moisson’s lease in the Redpath library will be up for renewal. Première Moisson was asked for a statement but declined, saying that they had no information to report.

While the decision is made solely by SHHS and other administrators, students can still make their voices heard. According to Marketing and Nutrition Advisor Monique Lauzon, 74 per cent of students liked Première Moisson and gave it a ‘good’ rating.

“[SHHS] conducts a campus-wide Food and Dining Survey every two years,” Lauzon said. “Our most recent survey dates back to February 2018. In that survey, Première Moisson received an overall positive rating of 74 per cent [285 students responded that they visit Première Moisson.]”

In a survey* conducted by The McGill Tribune, only 29 of 314 respondents said they wanted Première Moisson’s lease to be renewed. Most respondents were not regular customers, visiting zero to two times per week. Despite SHHS’s positive survey, a large majority of respondents to the Tribune’s survey indicated that they were very disappointed with Première Moisson’s food and beverages. Of the 282 students that made further comments about Première Moisson, over 80 of them mentioned affordability as a major concern.  

(Arshaaq Jiffry / The McGill Tribune)

 

“Première Moisson is inexplicably overpriced and relies on academically-stressed students needing nourishment at convenience,” one respondent said, who goes to Première Moisson over six times per week. “A decently-priced café would be so much better and would alleviate already high stress levels from the library.”

In over 140 replies, students mentioned that they would like to see Tim Hortons replace Première Moisson after their lease is over. However, future construction projects complicate negotiations for the space.

According to SSMU President Tre Mansdoerfer, the upcoming Fiat Lux project—a massive renovation of McGill’s libraries—means that the Redpath location could be closed for some time.

“No major company will enter that building knowing that they won’t be able to have business for three or four years,” Mansdoerfer said.

Mansdoerfer mentioned another alternative that may satisfy students’ strong desire for an on-campus Tim Hortons.

“I am trying to see if we could get [Tim Hortons] in the SSMU building itself,” Mansdoerfer said. “McGill may not be able to commit to it, but maybe we could. I can’t make any promises, but there is an effort to see that explored.”

Mansdoerfer was not the only one to mention the Fiat Lux project as a potential problem in negotiations over what will stand in Première Moisson’s place.

“[SHHS] is very conscious of the upcoming library renovation project, which is slated to begin in early 2022,” Lauzon said. “Given this, we will need to evaluate the practicality of investing in changing out [or] renovating Première Moisson at this particular time.”

Nonetheless, administrators are aware of students’ discontent with Première Moisson and concerns about its pricing.

“I’m pretty confident that [Première Moisson] won’t be there next semester,” Mansdoerfer said. “I’m not on the committee for [deciding the Redpath’s outcome], but I’ve had multiple conversations with Marisa Albanese [senior director of SHHS] and the Executive Chef of Dining Services Oliver De Volpi. They are fully aware that Première Moisson is not liked. It’s pricey and not what students want.”

 

*The survey referenced in this article does not meet scientific standards. It was conducted through Google Forms and distributed to various online McGill community groups, receiving 314 responses. It included multiple choice and open-ended questions.

Editorial, Opinion

Endless working groups with weak mandates delay progress

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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For the McGill Redmen, a new year might mean a new name. The Working Group on Commemoration and Renaming released its final report on Dec. 7, closing out a year-long series of consultations with campus stakeholders including students, alumni, community leaders, and indigenous groups. Created in Dec. 2017 at the recommendation of the Provost’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education—before the #ChangeTheName campaign began—the Working Group was mandated to create a set of broad, general principles to guide McGill’s decision-making about naming and renaming buildings, sports teams, and monuments among other things. While many of the report’s recommendations are sound, none of them are ground-breaking. However, the greatest weakness of the report, and the Working Group as a whole, comes from its paltry mandate. Principles, while necessary, are not a substitute for measurable, concrete policy recommendations in holding decision-makers accountable, and the Working Group is an extension of an already-lengthy process to rename McGill’s varsity teams. If McGill wants to consult students in good faith, it needs to stop relying on distracting, repetitive, bureaucratic measures that only delay necessary change.

The report stands in stark contrast with that of the Provost’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education, released in 2017. In addition to recommending the creation of the Working Group in question, the provost’s Task Force issued 52 actionable recommendations as to how McGill could actively pursue and commit to reconciliation. Examples include increased funding for indigenous students and outreach into indigenous communities. The Working Group’s report, on the other hand, is largely limited to elementary observations expressed in pallid, public relations–style language.

It is easy to measure an institution’s compliance with concrete policy prescriptions; the same is not true of abstract principles. An indisputable example is that McGill failed to fulfill Call to Action 26 from the Provost’s Task Force’s report, which recommended the installation of indigenous art in the newly-renovated Leacock terrace. In the absence of even the most basic objective benchmarks, holding McGill’s decision-makers, such as its Board of Governors, accountable is far more challenging.

The report is limited by the weak mandate that Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi provided them with in Dec. 2017. The Working Group’s problems began before its composition was even finalized: While the Provost’s Task Force recommended that consultations begin with the goal of changing the Redmen name, the Working Group was not given the mandate to comment on, much less decide the fate of, any specific commemoration practices at McGill. Furthermore, only two of the Working Group’s 14 members were students; one undergraduate and one graduate, and none of the Working Group members were indigenous.

Still, the Working Group’s report amplifies students’ frustration with this deliberately slow process. The report even calls upon McGill to be open, transparent, and timely in its decisions about naming and commemoration practices and quotes several students who expressed their disappointments in the lack of change so far.

“[The] constant creation of committees that continue to re-create the work of other committees directly contradicts the University’s mission statement,” writes a McGill student who authored a written submission to the Working Group, “[and creates an] overarching culture of mistrust.”

Another student voiced their concern that many of their colleagues see McGill’s administration as trying to simply outlast community leaders, rather than engage them in genuine dialogue. There is little evidence to suggest otherwise. Open discussions and concrete commitments come with the responsibility of taking action—which is something that, as evidenced by the Working Group’s mandate, McGill fails to do with regard to indigenous issues.

The report also does well acknowledging that, with an issue as fraught and symbolic as naming and commemoration, experiences matter as much as historical record. Although there is debate over the original meaning of the men’s varsity sports team name, that does not alter the fact that many indigenous students find it deeply offensive.

Initiatives like the recent increase in funding for bursaries, scholarships, and awards for indigenous students show that McGill is capable of meaningfully supporting reconciliation. However, student consultation efforts remain little more than a pantomime. Groups and campaigns like SSMU Indigenous Affairs, #ChangeTheName, and the First Peoples’ House that support indigenous students in the absence of high-level administrative response deserve full recognition.

Real dialogue involves not just the ability to express one’s views, as was the case with the Working Group, but the possibility of real action coming out of the process. This will not end with renaming buildings, monuments, or even the men’s varsity team; McGill needs to adopt a more streamlined and concise approach to decision-making. Endless bureaucracy, weak mandates, and vague recommendations only give the appearance of progress.

McGill, News

Schulich library to close for two years

by Helen Wu on

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The Schulich Library of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering will be temporarily closed for two years to undergo renovations. According to Diane Koen, senior director of Planning and Resources of the McGill Library services, the closure will tentatively come into effect on May 15, 2019. Renovations to the Schulich library will address the serious structural issues which were discovered during the Macdonald-Stewart Library Building roof renovation in 2010.

“For about the last four years, we have these temporary internal walls put up, and windows are covered because they had to do this intervention [. . .] to make sure both inside and outside the walls were stabilized.” Koen said.

In addition to repairing and stabilizing the masonry of the building, McGill will also take the opportunity to install new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, add more group-study rooms for reserve by students, and increase the number of washrooms on every floor. Currently, McGill is working with EVOQ Architecture to finalize the design plans.

“This is a 19th-century building, let’s make it into a 21st-century library, [and] within the budget that is available to us,” Koen said.

McGill Library Services Communications Officer Merika Ramundo referred to feedback gathered through LibQual surveys, conducted to assess library users’ satisfaction, as one of the reasons motivating the additional renovations.

“In a lot of the comments we received […], we have gotten ‘it is too hot in Schulich,’” Ramundo said. “That’s a bit of a red flag in terms of the HVAC issues, so that is for sure one of the things being addressed.”

Out of the project’s total budget of $38 million, $26 million come from a Quebec government grant, and McGill’s deferred maintenance budget will supplement the remaining $12 million. The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Library Improvement Fund Committee (LIFC) also made a contribution of $75,000 to support the improvement of the washrooms and inclusion of gender-neutral options.

“The LIF decided to partially fund the project because it fulfilled an urgent and well-known student need within the McGill community: More washrooms of better quality in Schulich,” Library Improvement Fund Commissioner Marie Lemieux wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune.

The resources at Schulich, which, according to a census conducted by McGill Library Services on Nov. 19, sees roughly 3,500 visitors a day, will have to be relocated for the duration of the renovations. The library’s 20 staff members, 160,000 print volumes, and at least 675 of its 850 seats will be moved to the McLennan-Redpath Library complex where they will remain available for staff and students. In order to provide more seating at McLennan-Redpath, McGill Library Services will relocate 75 staff members on the second floor of Redpath to 550 Sherbrooke.

“We feel we can get 675 to 700 seats in [Redpath] and the only way we can do this is to move our Collection Services staff and Digital Initiative staff off-site,” Koen said. “The floor that they are on has 20 offices which will become group study rooms.”

Furthermore, 250,000 low-use print volumes, most of them available online, will be moved from the Redpath basement to a storage facility off-site.

“By moving these low use materials to storage off-site, we are freeing up space to house active collections such as the Schulich Collection and other low-use collections from various areas of the McLennan-Redpath Complex,” Koen said.

The selection of material moving to the Redpath basement is not yet final, but will likely come from the Blackader-Lauterman and McLennan collections. Material moved to the Redpath basement will continue to remain available.

“We are moving heaven and earth so that [users] can have access to their collections, quality space, librarians, and support staff that served them for years in Schulich,” Koen said. “I know it is an imposition, but we are doing everything we can do to make sure their experience is a good one.”

Opinion

Campus Conversation: Change the Name as seen by alumni

by John Macdonald and Salim Brahimi on

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The Change the Name campaign has gripped students on campus this semester, but it’s also of interest to other members of the McGill community. The McGill Tribune asked alumni for their stance on the men’s varsity teams’ name.

John Macdonald (BA ‘01, BEd ‘03)

The naming debate is very important to me. Figuratively speaking, I have a foot in each canoe. I played football for McGill from 1997 to 2001, but I am also a proud Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and a former indigenous education consultant.

For a long time, I had mixed feelings about the name ‘Redmen.’ I saw the potential for offence due to its archaic, pan-Indian connotation, but I also found it enchanting that it reflected my mixed Scottish and Mohawk heritage. I never loved the name, but I also chose to remain silent because I believed the damage it inflicted was miniscule. As it turns out, I was wrong.

Recently, through Tomas Jirousek’s campaign and Dr. Suzanne Morton’s research, I learned about the racialized acts of students during the ‘50s and ‘60s, such as the use of ‘super-squaws’ to describe women’s teams. The appalling use of this misogynistic and racist language on campus is a cancer of our history, and it metastasized from the name ‘Redmen.’ Removing this remnant from a dark period of McGill’s past would be a step toward reconciliation.

The elitist, self-serving, and Eurocentric banter of those who believe that the name should remain is heartbreaking. It takes an enormous lack of sensitivity to so easily dismiss the viewpoints of over 10,000 indigenous and non-indigenous community members. Equally bothersome is the rationale that because some indigenous communities and alumni use or endorse the name ‘Redmen’ and other similar names for sports teams, McGill has the inherent right to use it as well. It is universally understood that only marginalized peoples can reclaim words and names that have been used to denigrate them in the past. Finally, the fact remains that most dictionaries fully acknowledge that the word “Redmen’ is a dated, offensive term used to refer to a North American Indian. To continue to promote this word in media is not appropriate for a forward-thinking and innovative institution such as McGill..

As an Ongwehonwe person and a proud McGillian, I must say that it is time for ‘Redmen’ to fade into history. Instead, let’s move forward by collaborating to create a new name that we can all be proud of.

Salim Brahimi (BEng ‘89, MEng ‘08, PhD ‘18)

The Redmen alumni community respectfully disagrees with those calling for the Redmen name to be changed. This in no way implies that we are insensitive to the historical injustices faced by Canada’s First Nations: We are all on the same side. As alumni, we share the Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming’s commitment to taking concrete steps that will ensure that our campus is more inclusive of and welcoming to indigenous peoples.

There is no question that red is the official school colour, as reflected in the McGill coat of arms. Over McGill’s 140-year history of intercollegiate sports, the colour red has been both universal and predominant.
What has complicated the debate is that, decades ago, erroneous links were made with aboriginal connotations, including a stylized headdress logo. More than a quarter-century ago, the McGill Athletics Board corrected the error once and for all by removing the logos and any indigenous references associated with the name. The name Redmen was retained because its historical roots were neither associated with nor in reference to the indigenous community. It was intended to mean “Men in Red”— and that is exactly what it means today.
I fully understand that some members of the indigenous community take offence to the name. However, this perception is not universal, as Redmen alumni with indigenous roots have expressed their pride in the Redmen name and opposed changing it. Other indigenous leaders have expressed that they are not offended by the name.
To us, ‘Redmen’ represents family. Redmen team members share a bond through the decades of perseverance, sacrifice, camaraderie, friendship that are integral to the McGill experience. If the name is changed because it is mistakenly perceived as having a pejorative connotation, that would be wrong, because it would falsely paint the Redmen alumni who support keeping the name as racist. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
It is my sincere hope that the University will permit both sides to explain their position, and that the entire McGill community will seize this opportunity to turn a potentially divisive topic into a unifying, inclusive initiative and to take concrete action called for by the by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Creative, News

McGill Tribune Monthly News Recap | November 2018

by Tristan Surman & Kyle Dewsnap on

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“Last month SSMU got sued, the Social Work Student’s Association demanded to be paid for their work, and the Children of the Corn were left standing in a field”.

Check out our monthly news recap for November 2018.

Creative

What is the best grilled cheese on campus?

by Sofia Chaudrac on

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The Tribune makes their most important inquiry to date: What is the best grilled cheese on campus? Is it the Burnside’s greasy delight, or the more refined New Rez-ian approach?

Watch the Tribune both ask, and answer, these profound and elusive questions.

Creative

How McGill is failing its disabled students

by Tristan Surman & Bilal Virji on

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“We have a fundamental right to be different, and that’s the first thing that students with disabilities must recognize.”

In October 2018, Didier Chelin, a blind former McGill Law student filed a human rights complaint against McGill University.

This is what he has to say about how the university is failing its disabled students. Created by Tristan Surman and Bilal Virji.

News, Opinion, PGSS

Post-Graduate Student Society (PGSS) Executive Midterm Reviews

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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Helena Zakrzewski, Secretary-General

Zakrzewski ran on a platform of improving mental health services for graduate students, increasing support for international students, and re-engaging society members. Over the past semester, she has overseen and supported the initiatives of other PGSS councillors while undertaking an extensive evaluation of PGSS governance bodies. Zakrzewski initiated and secured funding for a comprehensive third-party audit of PGSS governance structures to be conducted in the new year, and worked to overhaul the PGSS Appointments Board and International Student Caucus administrative processes. She has also initiated projects for PGSS member engagement and mental health services. As Secretary-General, Zakrzewski has refocused her efforts into enacting governance reforms that have the potential to leave a lasting positive impact on PGSS.

Sibat Anam, Financial Affairs Officer

Anam has navigated PGSS’s financial systems to respond to post-graduate students’ needs for funding and services. Most significantly, he has worked with the Committee on Monetary Affairs to improve the Grants Program, raising the maximum amount of funding available by 50 per cent and providing applicants with more information on the process. Non-unionized post-doctorate students will also benefit; previously, their Student Life Fund student fees were left unused because they were not represented by a Post-Graduate Student Association (PGSA). Anam allocated these funds to the Experimental Medicine Graduate Student Society, which will in turn hold more inclusive events for all post-doctorate students. Moving forwards, Anam intends to propose amendments to the Society Activities Manual later this month, fulfilling his campaign promise to increase funding for student travel. He is also preparing for the upcoming Health and Dental Fee referendum to be held during Winter 2019.

 

Hocine Slimani, External Affairs Officer

In his second term as External Affairs Officer (EAO), Slimani has focused on advocating for graduate students’ interests at the provincial and federal level. Slimani attended Quebec Student Union (QSU) caucuses in June and August 2018 and felt that the Society’s desire to make public data more available for research purposes was fairly represented. However, PGSS’s lack of membership to a provincial student union has posed a significant barrier to completing Slimani’s key campaign promises. At the onset of both of his terms, Slimani pointed to the benefits of considering postdoctoral students as employees but has been unable to make progress in lobbying the provincial government on the issue. Moreover, Slimani has failed to put affiliation to a student union like QSU to referendum this semester as he had promised to do during his campaign. Slimani’s partnership with the Students’ Union of McGill University (SSMU) and the Milton-Parc community to investigate affordable housing options near campus has completed its first phase, however, the project’s progress is slow and inconclusive.

 

Konstantina Chalastara, Internal Affairs Officer

Having previously held the position of PGSS Environment Commissioner, making events more environmentally friendly was a priority for Chalastara. Chalastara has been steadily working toward this goal since the beginning of the semester: PGSS Orientation Week received a gold certification from the McGill Office of Sustainability. In the first month of the semester Chalastra organized an impressive 26 events on top of Orientation Week, all of which were well-attended. In November, Chalastara planned Eco-Week, which ran Nov. 12-25 and featured a variety of panels and workshops. Chalastara has also been working to make social events more accessible by implementing family friendly events and improving social media engagement. For Winter 2019 she hopes to improve the Winter Orientation for students starting at McGill in January.

 

Maria Tippler, Academic Affairs Officer

Tipler organized her platform around the theme of synergistic projects and initiatives that increase involvement with other PGSS executives, commissioners, and stakeholders. She has achieved her goal of improved communication, and, among other accomplishments, has provided students with guidance on working with professors in an Oct. 26 panel, strengthened PGSS transparency by documenting a paper trail for the Library Improvement Fund, and clarified committee application procedures. Currently, Tippler is working on creating a streamlined document to promote funding opportunities for students, updating the PGSS website, and planning for the Ottawa Networking Trip in January. Given Tippler’s commitment to transparency and her history of both fulfilling and exceeding campaign plans, her ability to continue to deliver on ongoing projects is promising.

 

Jeremy Goh, Member Services Officer

Goh has sought to make PGSS more accessible and inclusive by creating programs that can remain in place after his term concludes. He has revamped the Study Sundays program by creating more spots and hiring a core group of paid student babysitters. In collaboration with PGSS’ equity commissioner, Goh passed a motion in support of the #ChangeTheName campaign, uniting an often-detached PGSS with the rest of McGill. He also administered a special referendum regarding the Student Services fee for non-unionized post-doctoral students. Currently, he is building a structural support system for students starting families and is also preparing for the Winter 2019 Health and Dental Fee referendum. Next semester, Goh hopes to work more closely with his constituents and set up a formal feedback platform for PGSS services.

Features

Beyond sobs and scares

by Stephen Gill on

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Days prior to returning to Montreal this August, I visited my father’s grave for the first time in nearly a decade, 17 years after he died. As a child in visits past, I had trudged along with my mother and sister, longing to return to the car. This time, though, I looked forward to going on my own. I had reached year three of flying back and forth from Kansas to Quebec—back and forth from two starkly different lifestyles and friend groups—in four-month intervals. With graduation quietly approaching, my life was moving more quickly than ever. Crossing into Missouri on my way to Mount Moriah Cemetery, I was looking to take a step back and reset.

Commentary, Opinion

On activism and Jewish identity

by Nathan Collett on

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On Dec. 3, I participated in a demonstration as part of IfNotNow Montreal (INN). The rally consisted of a small group of Jewish activists, most of them McGill students, who held posters displaying statistics about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. INN is a Jewish organization that advocates to end North American Jewish support for the occupation. I grew up in a community where I was encouraged to think critically about Israel and my relation to it as a well-assimilated North American Jew, and I have continued to do so upon entering university. However, when I first expressed an opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in public, I realized that my Jewish identity is far more intertwined with the existence of the State of Israel than I had previously believed.

Educational institutions have immense power over our political beliefs. From a young age, people absorb implicit values that influence their thought process for life. My education was mostly secular, aside from Jewish preschool, a socially-progressive Jewish summer camp, and rather benign Sunday morning classes at my synagogue. Somewhere along the road, I acquired an allegiance with Israel that I did not realize was intrinsic to my identity until I took a public stance against the occupation.

For some Jewish students, education promotes a specific viewpoint on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The legitimate message that Israel provides support for the Jewish people when they are targets of discrimination is coupled with an expectation that one must reciprocate this support to truly be Jewish. In private Jewish high schools especially, many educators politicize the pre-existing affinity for Israel among the student body. Peers link social belonging with unconditional support for Israel. This is the case to varying degrees among many Jewish institutions.

University upends Jewish students’ preconceived beliefs and exposes them to a complicated discourse rife with one-sided, divisive rhetoric. Groups like Chabad at McGill, StandWithUs, and Israel on Campus assert that university discourages Jewish pride and support for Israel. I have not been at McGill long enough to take a position on campus anti-Semitism. I have noticed, however, that most Jewish organizations at McGill are supportive of Israel, and quiet about the complexities of its political reality.

Organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, Independent Jewish Voices, and, more recently, IfNotNow, provide the primary outlets for Jewish students’ criticism of Israel on university campuses. However, many of these organizations require that students totally support the principles of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement (BDS) movement. This absolutist position equates support for Israel on any level with tolerance for the occupation. Conflicted students should be open to challenging their perceptions about the occupation while also reflecting on their philosophy about the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Every aspect of the issue is rooted in an identity that associates Israel with Jewish belonging and vice versa.

On campus, Jewish organizations and left-wing activist groups place progressive, Jewish students at a crossroads. Ingrained identity forged through childhood is confronted with idealist activism that demands a firmly-planted position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There is no such thing as a non-controversial statement about Israel. With Jewish identity on the line, one feels a need to be confident, supported by facts, and willing to face criticism to make a statement about Israel. Ultimately, leftist Jewish students must strive to communicate their opinions despite the complexities of their situation. 

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