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Private, Science & Technology

The delicate link between political and environmental climates

by Gwenyth Wren on

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On Oct. 28, Jair Bolsonaro won the presidential election with 55 per cent of the popular vote. This result has global implications as the Brazilian political climate has the potential to sway the course of the battle against climate change. Bolsonaro has pledged to support the country’s agricultural sector, putting business ahead of the Amazon rainforest’s biodiversity and forest conservation. His promise threatens Brazil’s ability to meet its greenhouse gas commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Brazil is a crucial player in combatting climate change. Stretching across 2.7 million square miles, the Amazon acts as a giant sink for carbon dioxide emissions produced worldwide. Bolsonaro has dismissed the idea of setting forest land aside for indigenous groups in Brazil and has promised to repeal laws protecting parts of the Amazon.

Deforestation and forest degradation in tropical countries account for approximately 10 per cent of annual pollution leading to global warming. Global Forest Watch, a research and advocacy group, found that cutting down trees in tropical nations resulted in a gross average of 4.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year from 2015 to 2017. This is equivalent to the emissions that come out of the tailpipes of 85 million cars before they breakdown.

“The three main sources of greenhouse gas emissions are use of fossil fuel, production of cement, and deforestation,” Catherine Potvin, professor in McGill’s Department of Biology and Canada Research Chair in Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forest, said. “This is because the trunk of a tree is made up of 50 per cent carbon. In much of the tropics, when they deforest, they don’t deforest to produce timber, but to clear land for agriculture. Thus, they cut and burn the trees. Burning forest that is cut immediately releases CO2 which is stored in the trunks of those trees.”

In 2005, deforestation accounted for 20 per cent of global emissions in the Amazon. While this figure has decreased to 10 per cent, it is still significant on a global scale.

“All issues of climate change and global warming are felt everywhere on the planet,” Potvin said. “It doesn’t matter where emissions occur, CO2 is very mobile [and] a release in CO2 where it occurs it ends up all over the atmosphere.”

Biodiversity is at risk, too. The Amazon is both the largest and most diverse rainforest in the world. If deforestation increases, it will continue to fracture the Amazon’s fragile ecosystem that is home to many endangered species.

However, Brazil is far from being the only culprit. Potvin reminded Western countries to look to their own sustainability efforts before shaming Brazil.

 

“Brazil has been one of the lead[ing] countries in the world against climate change in the last 15 years, far better than the US and Canada,” Potvin said. “The country has been able to reduce emissions from deforestation 70 per cent over the last decade. The world would be grateful if we could do that with the oil sands.”

Under Bolsonaro, the deforestation rate is expected to rise, affecting the whole planet. However, the US and China’s contributions to global CO2 emissions, 26.8 per cent and 14.4 per cent, respectively, are also notable.

“We must not distort the truth to make [ourselves] feel better and ignore [the reality],” Potvin said.

Science & Technology

The tuberculosis inequities of the Inuit peoples

by Sophia Gorbounov on

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The See Change Initiative collaborated with the Ilisaqsivik Society to host ‘Tackling TB in Nunavut: A Night of Photos and Stories’, a panel and silent auction on Nov. 8. The event aimed to raise money and awareness for the ongoing problem of tuberculosis (TB) among the Inuit people in northern Canada. The initiative, a non-profit organization, is dedicated to eradicating the health disparities that exist between Inuit and non-indigenous people: In addition to other health concerns, TB rates among Inuit are 300 times higher than those of non-indigenous Canadians.

Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, professor of practice at McGill and executive director of the See Change Initiative, described how the organization began.

“As Canadians, we could not simply sit at home and do nothing while a crisis of this magnitude was happening,” Monroe said.

With the help of Stephen Lewis, a Canadian politician, diplomat, and advocate for those affected by the TB crisis in Nunavut, the project began. The initiative uses the funds it raises to support training and workshops for groups up north, ensuring an Inuit-specific team and community-based model for health care delivery.

As an Inuit, Tina Pisuktie, corporate secretary for the Southern Quebec Inuit Association, expressed enthusiasm at finally having the opportunity to make decisions for themselves.

“It’s empowering to have the freedom and the ability to take on our own approaches,” Pisuktie said. “We’re so used to people coming in and telling us ‘do this, do that.’”

The panel incorporated a series of video interviews from members of the Ilisaqsivik Society detailing how the See Change Initiative operates. Additionally, the discussion featured heartbreaking testimonies from Inuit people affected by TB as well as the greater health problems up north.

Seeing a mother talk about her son’s unending battle with the treatable disease brings to light the realities Inuit people have been facing since the TB epidemic began over 150 years ago.

The TB epidemic is just the tip of the historical iceberg influencing the current inequities faced by Inuit people in Canada. According to Pisuktie, the Inuit were still a nomadic people as recently as two generations ago when the Canadian government mass-slaughtered their sled dogs, thereby eliminating a primary form of transport and forcing them into a sedentary lifestyle. Mobility restriction was a common tactic. In Aug. 1983, 87 Inuit were forcibly relocated to the High Arctic. Families were taken to barren conditions and separated from each other into three locations.

Though they were told that they would be allowed to return home after two years, the promise was not honoured. While the Canadian federal government claims that this was done in good faith, many saw the displacement as evidence of the families being used as human flagpoles to assert Canada’s dominance of the Far North during the height of the Cold War.

Colonialism left a deep cut in the history of the Inuit, and it is crucial to acknowledge both the historical context and current situations they face in the northern parts of Canada. Through projects like the See Change Initiative, Canadians can begin work on undoing wrongs and move toward a future not only of recognition but of equitable treatment of Inuit throughout the nation.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

‘The Tashme Project’ combines personal discovery and public atrocity

by Jonathan Giammaria on

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The internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War was a shameful moment in history and one high school curricula often sideline. The Tashme Project: The Living Archives, which showed at the Centaur Nov. 15-24, brought the history of internment to the forefront. Created and performed by Julie Tamiko Manning and Matt Miwa, the production is both a reconciliatory effort of two individuals trying to reconnect with their family’s past, as well as a project meant to educate Canadians about the attempted expulsion of the Japanese community.

The Tashme Project is a verbatim theatre piece consisting of episodic scenes based on historical anecdotes. The play explores the lives of the generation of Japanese immigrants who lived in Tashme, the largest internment camp in Canada. Inspired by the disconnection that both Miwa and Manning felt from their respective family histories, the two uncover their stories as the play progresses. The anecdotes come from the leads’ relatives and acquaintances, and Miwa and Manning take on the voice and mannerisms of the individual whose stories they share. As the narrative advances, the actors immerse the audience in the experiences of families wrongfully displaced, isolated, and forced into various internment camps.

The play’s believability rests on the performers’ abilities to authentically embody the voices of a generation several times separated. Manning particularly excels in bringing a multitude of distinct ancestries to life. Through changes to her inflection and gait, she individualizes the plight of a group wrongfully judged as a homogenous whole. Meanwhile, Miwa, who doesn’t quite reach the chameleonic realism of his co-star, excels in his displays of emotional intensity. He conveys a complete affective spectrum. In one instance, he expresses the chaotic combination of an elder’s anger and sadness that emerges out of the violence of segregation. In another scene, he portrays a child’s innocent optimism amidst an increasingly hopeless environment. The actors never veer into territory of appropriation; their combined efforts instead give the effect of a live audiovisual transcription. They breathe life into the voices of a generation previously shrouded in silence.

The set design acts as a third voice in the portrayal of the trials of the Tashme prisoners. Two boxes containing mementos and heirlooms of the forgotten generation serve as narrative vessels. Every origami crane and handwritten letter is a commitment to reconnection, and each serves as a metaphor for the creators’ mission to resurrect the past. For every anecdote that the cast shares, indices of their relatives and the conditions through which they suffered are projected as photos and video recordings onto the background of the stage. The juxtaposition of re-enactment and historical artifacts allows for the production to spotlight dramatic performance while honouring those from whom it borrows.

As the show came to a close, Manning and Miwa contemplate packing up the family crates, ultimately deciding to leave them open and on display. Careful not to shy away from their educational intention, the post-show featured a discussion period encouraging questions and participation. In the face of a curious and thankful audience, the interactive period is a realization of Miwa and Manning’s goals.

 

polyamory
Off the Board, Opinion

What my parents’ polyamory taught me

by Tristan Surman on

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It was a peculiar sequence of events: I remember walking downstairs and seeing my mother lying down with someone else in our living room. I remember my dad coming home from yet another business trip. It had been about two weeks since I’d last seen him. I remember sitting in the kitchen with the first glass of whiskey my father had ever poured me. His suitcase stood by the counter, and the single light above the stove cast harsh shadows across his face. He told me that he and my mom had chosen to be in an open relationship for the last couple of months. I remember deciding not to tell my little brother. It was scary at the time, but, since then, polyamory has taught me about how to love with empathy.

As far as I can tell, every child goes through a frustratingly drawn-out period in which they have developed an understanding of other people’s emotions but aren’t quite empathetic enough to understand how to navigate them. I found out about my parents’ polyamory precisely during that period. I knew that I could hurt my mother by fighting her, by withholding my love, and by making her feel as if she didn’t matter to me. On the other hand, my father’s openness meant that I saw him as a human being for the first time. We had many more stove-lit conversations over glasses of whiskey throughout my teenage years. In that time, he became a person in my eyes, navigating love and life, while my mother became the spectre of instability that I would unfairly reject for years.

As I moved through a typically-tumultuous adolescence, I began to learn more about the people who my parents were romantically engaged with. I met them, spoke with them, and learned from them. I saw how in love my parents were with them, and I began to love them, too. I saw how hard they were fighting, in every way imaginable, to stay together. I slowly began to understand that polyamory was not a betrayal of our family, but a measured response to natural detachment.

My parents’ room was piled high with books outlining the philosophy and strategy of polyamory. They were seeing a therapist who helped them navigate the emotional complexities of their undertaking. They spent hours negotiating the boundaries of their other relationships and trying to balance their commitments with compassion. I started to empathize with both of them and respect their efforts. I saw polyamory as their attempt at maintaining both emotion and rationality in relationships. To succeed as a polyamorist, you have to bring love to every relationship you have, actively fight against tendencies toward competition and jealousy, and acknowledge the complexity inherent in loving someone. Polyamory has taught me lessons about empathetic love that I carry into every relationship I have.

The summer before Grade 12, my parents told me and my brother that they were splitting up. I wasn’t surprised: I could tell the fabric of their relationship was disintegrating. Their divorce was easier because of polyamory; they were better equipped for the transition, and I was better equipped to cope with it. I knew that it was my responsibility to bring love to my relationship with both of them and to acknowledge that their relationship was a complex thing with many facets.

Polyamory may not have saved my parents’ marriage—I’m not even sure it was supposed to—but it didn’t fail us, either. Polyamory isn’t just about romantic relationships, it’s a framework for prioritizing communication and empathy. It introduced me to my parents as human beings. I remember when I realized how much polyamory had truly taught me about empathetic love. My mother had just come home from a trip, and it had been about two weeks since I’d last seen her. I was sitting in the kitchen as it dawned on her that my father had moved out, and that half of what had filled her house for 20 years was gone. I remember seeing her cry, not knowing what to do, and wanting to hug her. She was just a human, navigating love and life.

Soccer, Sports

Women’s soccer growing in Latin America despite lack of investment

by Kaja Surborg on

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Twelve years after they last appeared at the Women’s World Cup, the Argentine national women’s soccer team is back in the competition. It may seem obvious that they are going to the World Cup; after all, this is the same country that produced Messi and Maradona. The women in Argentina, however, are not on an equal playing field, making this comeback an important one.

Before this year, the women’s national team was not allowed to train at the same facilities as the men’s team. Reversing this policy is a step in the right direction, but the conditions are still far from equal. Women on the national team still only earn the equivalent of $8 USD per day, and, in Sept. 2017, the players went on strike because even that small stipend went unpaid. This is far from a livable wage, especially when the players are expected to eat, sleep, and have the equipment needed to perform at a professional level. For comparison, Messi earns $667, 000 per week after signing his latest contract with FC Barcelona in 2017. Because Argentine women do not make a living wage from soccer in their home country, players are forced to either seek professional club opportunities internationally or work other jobs and only train part-time.

Argentina’s qualification for the 2019 World Cup is made even more impressive by the fact that, in 2017, they, along with several other South American women’s national teams, were dropped from the FIFA world rankings and declared ‘inactive’ because they had not played a match, trained together, or hired staff in over 18 months.

Soccer federations around the world are quick to claim that they cannot pay female players as much as their male counterparts because they do not bring in the same revenue. However, this argument does not hold meaningful ground: In the United States, women’s soccer, even with fewer resources invested in teams and development programs, still brings in higher viewer figures than men’s games. The United States may be the exception and not the rule, but it shows that people care about women’s soccer when it begins to receive proper support.  

Furthermore, the women’s game is unlikely to earn profits for their national federations if there is no investment in players and development, as well as promotion and advertisement of matches and merchandise. Fans and sponsors are the main sources of revenue for federations, and no sponsor wants to invest in an event that nobody will watch. Additionally, audiences will avoid games that they deem to be of lesser quality, but players can’t improve if they can’t commit to their training and they have insufficient resources. And, so, the cycle continues. Federations that use this economic argument simply perpetuate a self-fulfilling prophecy. A women’s side that can only afford to train together three times a week on low-quality fields cannot be expected to perform at the same level and attract the same crowds as a professional men’s side that enjoys full-time professional coaching, medical staff, and superior facilities.

Furthermore, soccer federations are meant to be not-for-profit. While they do need money to reinvest and continue to develop the game in their countries, the board members of many federations earn huge, unnecessary salaries. In 2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino agreed to a salary of $1.53 million—less than half of what former president Sepp Blatter was paid, excluding the $10 million bonuses Blatter received for every World Cup.

Soccer federations around the world have the funds to support women’s teams but appear unwilling to spend it on the female players who work for it. With tickets for Argentina’s World Cup qualification playoff match against Panama selling out in less than 12 hours, hopefully the tides are finally changing for fútbol femenino in Argentina, the rest of Latin America, and the world.

Student Life, Student of the Week

Student of the Week: Hannah Miller

by Nicholas Raffoul on

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Between Nov. 19 and 23, the McGill Social Work Students’ Association (SWSA) went on strike to protest the faculty’s compulsory internship requirement which students do not receive compensation for. Among the protesters was Hannah Miller, U2 Social Work and the equity coordinator for the SWSA. Though they played a crucial role in the past week on campus, Miller’s activism in the faculty began long before the recent organized protest.  For the last week, Miller has been partaking in teach-outs, blocking access to classes as part of the picket line, and engaging in conversations with faculty administrators. These efforts are meant to encourage the administration to reform the faculty’s curriculum and ensure that student demands are heard.

“Our intention is not to block people from learning or to create a hostile learning environment,” Miller said. “We don’t want to not go to class. We don’t have the option. Certain people can’t afford not getting paid.”

For their internship this year, Miller has worked at Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec (ASTT(e)Q), which supports trans people around the city through peer support, education, harm reduction, and community empowerment initiatives. Despite the vital work that Miller and their fellow McGill students are providing to the Montreal community, they are often not compensated by their employers.

While many internships in fields such as computer science are paid, internships in the development and care industries, such as education and social work, frequently lack remuneration. Additionally, the labour inequality that McGill’s social work students are aiming to dismantle reflects gendered bias. Female-identifying students who carry out internships are only paid 17 per cent of the time while 45 per cent of their male-identifying counterparts are paid for equal labour.

Additionally, as interns, many of McGill’s social work students take on work positions without access to the insurance or social benefits offered to long-term employees. Miller explained that, in addition to protesting unequal compensation, social work interns are also protesting this discrepancy in provincial labour laws.

“We don’t have any protections,” Miller said. “If you’re facing sexual harassment, if you get pregnant, if you get injured, you have no protection because your labour is not recognized.”

In many ways, Miller prefers working at their internship over attending lectures. At work, Miller is immersed in an inclusive and accepting space—a culture that they do not get to enjoy as often on campus. Miller explained that they feel the faculty’s curriculum is outdated and can make them feel unwelcome.

“[The social work curriculum] lacks intersectionality in all its forms,” Miller said. “[Through] most of the materials and our professors, we learn a very straight, cis-male perspective without recognizing the harm of that [….] There are gender development theorists that say that if you don’t know if you’re male or female at a certain age, there is something developmentally wrong with you. When this is being taught in class, and I’m sitting there, it’s basically telling me there’s something wrong with me.”

After advocating for a more inclusive curriculum, Miller faced resistance from a number of faculty members. Despite this hesitance, Miller feels like it’s the faculty’s responsibility to correct the curriculum’s flaws and to make it more inclusive of current and in upcoming students.

“I feel like if I don’t say something, then nothing will be said, and we don’t have these conversations,” Miller said. “If we want to be effective social workers, we need to be able to have a well-rounded and open understanding of different lived experiences.”

Along with Miller’s full course load, unpaid internship, and many other commitments throughout the school year, they are also a single parent. Hannah prioritizes their child over their grades and other coursework, leaving them with little free time to seek out an alternative source of income. Ultimately, in exchange for the time they have sacrificed for their degree, Miller believes they deserve fair treatment from the university.

“I came into this program, and I knew there was going to be unpaid labour,” Miller said. “I didn’t know how heavy that was going to be on me, both physically and emotionally. My goal for the strike is to have my labour recognized as labour.”

Intercampus
Campus Spotlight, Student Life

A bus ride worth a thousand words

by Karan Kumar on

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For local poet E. Lloyd Kelly, the writing process takes place whenever inspiration strikes. Kelly, who operates the inter-campus shuttle between the downtown and Macdonald campuses, is also an author and poet who has published five works of literature under his name.

Kelly’s works, four books and a poetry anthology, are uniquely connected to Montreal. Lloyd was first inspired to write poetry during a hectic drive down Sherbrooke Street, which inspired, “Welcome to Montreal,” a poem that describes the chaos and confusion that can arise on streets and highways throughout the city.

“I was coming down [Sherbrooke], just about to cross over the light, but then a group of protesters suddenly blocked the street and sent us back [to take another route],” Kelly said. “Instead of getting mad at this moment, I used this to inspire me to write a poem.”

Kelly’s journey as a writer has been unconventional. He initially aspired to be a singer and wrote several original songs; however, he noticed that many of his lyrics could be published as poems, which motivated him to write for an audience. In 2016, Kelly self-published his first book. The publication of this work allowed him to jumpstart his writing career, but the financial cost of publishing proved a significant setback.

“I ended up spending quite a pretty penny,” Kelly said. “Looking back, I  should not have spent so much. The company was dishonest [and] they made a pitch as if it was very easy publishing. However, at every step, the cost increased.”

Kelly’s early publications were dark tragedies that explored themes of death and despair. But, after receiving feedback, he added more optimism to his work. In his poem collection, “Waters of Silver Springs,” Kelly explores more lighthearted themes such as love, family, and nature. This balance between dark and light subject matter has allowed him to connect to a wider audience.

Although his day-job can be taxing, Kelly manages to set aside time for writing. He does not consider driving to be an obstacle, but, instead, views it as something which complements his writing.

“Every writer needs a muse,” Kelly said. “I think my muse is driving. I always have my notebook and keep it next to me. Sometimes, when I am going down the highway and something comes to my mind, as soon as I get a break or slowing traffic, I jot down those thoughts. This way, that little spark becomes a flame. [The notes don’t] necessarily take any particular form. I just write. When I sit down later, I start editing. It is then [that the notes start] mushrooming into something.”

Though he divides his time on-the-job between the bustling downtown area and the more peaceful Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Kelly prefers Macdonald campus’ bucolic environment, which he finds more conducive to writing.

“I usually get a 30-minute break between each ride. I use the break at Macdonald campus to work on my writing,”  Kelly said. “Macdonald is a lot quieter. I have a place where I park the bus, and no one bothers me. It is where I do most of the writing. I get inspiration on the streets and in the city, but I do the writing at Macdonald.”

One piece of advice Kelly gave to aspiring writers in the McGill community is to start writing without thinking too far ahead.

“Just write,” Kelly said. “[You don’t] have to see the end result from the beginning. Sometimes, you have an inspiration, sometimes, you will have to inspire yourself [….] What I do to reignite the muse is to go back to what I already have there and start reading what I have already written.”

Hockey, Sports

NHL quarter-season awards

by Mitch Bannon, Sebastian Pazdan, Owen Gibbs on

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Hart Trophy: Connor McDavid

In 2013, Habs forward Lars Eller raised some eyebrows when he compared the Edmonton Oilers to a junior team. The only reason that his comment doesn’t still ring true, five seasons later, is the play from the man they call ‘McJesus’: Connor McDavid. McDavid, on pace for 118 points, has single-handedly willed a terrible Oilers team within four points of the last wildcard spot as of Nov. 26. McDavid deserves the de-facto most valuable player award for his ability to grant his AHL-calibre teammates with cushy NHL contracts and because he has hoodwinked the NHL into thinking that the Oilers are not that bad.

Norris Trophy: Mark Giordano

With the Pacific Division up for grabs, Flames captain Mark Giordano is in line to win his first Norris, awarded to the best all-round defenceman. Playing nearly 24.5 minutes a night, Giordano’s elite playmaking ability has him on pace for 75 points, and the Flames give up half as many passes to high-scoring areas when he is on the ice. Giordano is also on the ice for 6.5 per cent more shots for than shots against, a higher percentage than all other candidates, including Morgan Reilly and Thomas Chabot.

Vezina Award: Pekka Rinne

At 36 years old, Pekka Rinne is proving doubters and aging curves wrong. Rinne has put together another elite campaign in net for the Nashville Predators, and the statistics show it: He has a 10-2-1 record, .942 save percentage, and 1.68 goals against average. With the league’s best defence in front of him, Rinne is in an optimal position to be named the league’s best netminder again. Other Vezina contenders include the Maple Leafs’ Frederik Andersen and the Ducks’ John Gibson, who could continue to put forward compelling cases by season’s end.

Calder Trophy: Elias Pettersson

Despite missing six games after suffering a concussion in October, Elias Pettersson is off to a quick start. With 13 goals and 21 points in his first 20 NHL games for the lowly Vancouver Canucks, the opening to his rookie campaign has been on par with those of Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. His speed, scoring, and playmaking abilities have compelled Wayne Gretzky to compare Pettersson to, well, himself. The sky appears to be the limit for the 20-year-old, and he should coast to the Calder—provided that he remains healthy throughout the season.

Jack Adams Award: Phil Housley

Shocking many in the hockey world, Phil Housley’s Buffalo Sabres have jumped into playoff contention just a season removed from being the NHL’s worst team. Housley has coached the Sabres to the league’s third-best record as of Nov. 26. He has managed his top line of Jeff Skinner, Jack Eichel, and Jason Pominville as it has developed into one of the most dominant offensive lines in hockey, and the team is well on its way to their first playoff appearance since 2011.

Stanley Cup Champion: Nashville Predators

As of Nov. 26, the Predators lead the league in points, on pace for a remarkable 120. The Predators are a team without weakness: They have a solid forward core, an exceptional goalie tandem of Rinne and Juuse Saros, and one of the best defences in the NHL. Their tremendous depth provides an advantage over other contenders: For instance, after Tampa Bay Lightning starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was injured, the Bolts, otherwise a tough team, saw their record suffer due to weak back-up netminding. Elsewhere, the Winnipeg Jets and San Jose Sharks could be contenders, but both teams have had slow starts relative to preseason expectations. At this rate, the Predators have emerged as the clear-cut favourite to win it all.

Campus Spotlight, Student Life

Hot Cities of the World Tour takes students to far-off destinations

by Gabriela McGuinty on

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Every year, McGill undergraduate students apply for the “Hot Cities of the World Tour,” a 12-day trip to cities around the world spearheaded by Associate Professor in the Faculty of Management Karl Moore. Following the trip’s slogan, “taking the future to the future,” this initiative is an unparalleled opportunity for 30 undergraduates to travel to some of the world’s leading economic hubs alongside one of McGill’s distinguished professors and a dozen McGill alumni.  

“[The idea for the trip] started in 2006,” Moore said. “I took 20 McGill students to spend the day with Warren Buffett in Omaha. On the way back from [a visit with] the second richest person in the world, I thought to myself, ‘how do you follow up?’”

To name a few destinations on past trips, Moore has taken students to India, South Africa, Russia, Mongolia, Doha, and Jakarta. Applications are due in October, and Moore selects 30 McGill students to go on the excursion soon thereafter. This year, the selected undergraduates will visit Tokyo, Bangkok, and Phuket.

Suneil Kheterpal (BCom’17) participated in the 2016 tour and views the experience as instrumental to his understanding of South America. Kheterpal travelled to the region and had the chance not only to observe practical applications of economic theory, but also discover a new culture along the way.

“There’s a series of memorable moments,” Kheterpal said. “We travelled to a vineyard to see the different wines of Chile, [visited] a coffee plantation site in Colombia, met the mayor of Bogotá, [and went] salsa dancing outside the old city of Cartagena”.

In an effort to make travel accessible to students from various socioeconomic backgrounds, Moore tries to select a varied range of students. This year, for the first time in the program’s history, the trip is taking two law students and three indigenous students on scholarships. Two-thirds of the accepted students have received financial aid. According to Moore, this attention to diversity provokes new and necessary conversations throughout the trip.

“We do reflections on the trip where, fairly regularly, we split into groups of four and we discuss what we [got] out of what we just heard,” Moore said. “Everyone adds their own view. Students from other disciplines get all sorts of lessons from it because you’re hearing from different people.”

Each year, Moore selects different destinations based on current events and recent economic developments. For this reason, the recent stops on the trips have primarily been to cities across Asia, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Seoul, and Hong Kong, where regional economies are rapidly growing and becoming hubs for financial and business ventures.

“We’re looking at some of the leading companies in the world, both global[ly] as well as locally, to get a sense of how they do business but also how they lead, how they advertise, and how they do business outside of America,” Moore said.  “But, [the trip] is not there as a holiday. We meet with CEOs, politicians, journalists, [and others].”

The McGill alumni who accompany Moore and his students serve as mentors and points of contact for students. The alumni simultaneously support Moore throughout the trip and facilitate discussions between students and themselves after the interviews they hold with industry experts.  

“The alumni bring maturity, and the students love to talk to [them],” Moore said. “They talk about their careers, where they live, families [….] It’s you in 10 or 15 years, so, it’s thinking about what your life may be like in the next coming years. It’s your chance to explore the life of someone actually doing those thing you’re thinking about.”

The Hot Cities of the World experience offers students a unique alternative to reading week and the opportunity to make connections and learn directly from successful people in the fields that they aspire to work in.

“The one thing you take away is a lifetime of friendships and relationships that you can build off of,” Kheterpal said. “Today, I am in contact with several of the participants that live around the world, [such as] New York, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, [and] Toronto. These are close friends of mine that I can rely on for both advice and employment opportunities.”

News, SSMU

SSMU’s great bank switch

by Ezra-Jean Taylor on

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As part of a massive financial overhaul, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) is currently switching from ScotiaBank to the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). SSMU was one of ScotiaBank’s biggest customers with over 230 accounts.

“We’re one of the only student unions that gives this many clubs this many bank accounts,” SSMU Vice-President (VP) Finance Jun Wang said. “[ScotiaBank and RBC] have never encountered a client with this many sub-accounts.”

The original ScotiaBank contract was drawn up in 1992 and has not been updated since. Wang blames it for creating communication issues, confusion, and red tape for SSMU clubs, which motivated the switch. According to him, a particular difficulty was that clubs had to communicate with both SSMU and ScotiaBank to receive funding. This made tracking requests for funding and club purchases unnecessarily convoluted.

Preparations for the switch have been ongoing for some time. Last year, former VP Finance Arisha Khan and her substitute, former VP Finance Esteban Herpin, proposed to transition SSMU accounts from ScotiaBank to RBC. Over the summer, Jun Wang, along with ScotiaBank staff, RBC bankers, and a handful of SSMU staff, began cataloguing SSMU club accounts, some of which existed only on paper. In the process they temporarily shut down inactive accounts for the summer and moved each account to RBC. The team also created customized software for SSMU, eliminating any need for mediators and making online banking for clubs simple and more accessible.

Wang trained club executives in the new system through eight workshops at the start of the school year. Communication issues between clubs and himself, lack of space, and limited personnel means that some clubs are still straggling behind, but the switch is still on track to be completed by next semester.

Wang is confident that the financial overhaul will simplify and strengthen the funding process. Clubs will be able to receive money from SSMU through direct deposits without needing to contact RBC, creating a trackable funding system.

This process requires clubs to assume complete financial responsibility. With the ScotiaBank system, confusion and clutter meant clubs were not made fully aware of guidelines, creating further problems for SSMU. Wang hopes that transforming the way in which clubs receive funds will make the banking system more approachable.

“This bank transfer legitimizes the [funding] process and makes sure clubs take banking more seriously,” Wang said. “[Access to bank accounts is] a big privilege that we are extending.”

Over the past few weeks, all SSMU funding underwent a ‘blackout’ period while accounts switched from ScotiaBank to RBC. Eva Ren, a SSMU funding commissioner, works directly with clubs to approve funds.

“All student groups that have been approved for funding cannot receive their funds until after the freeze,” Ren said.

F WORD, a McGill feminist multimedia magazine, needed funds for its launch party on Nov. 15. According to Judy Huang, an F WORD coordinator, the launch coincided with the blackout period.

“F WORD was able to work with both SSMU, and our printer to pay the printing cost through SSMU, which was great as it is the largest expense of the semester.” Huang said.  “The SSMU executives were helpful and definitely solved the printing issue. But, otherwise, all costs were paid out of our own pockets [as] we wait for our funds to be accessible again.”

According to Wang, when funds become available again next semester, clubs that were affected by the blackout will be refunded.

Wang plans to see the bank transfer through, even with the unforeseen complications that cropped up during the process. To help future VP Finance executives continue the transfer smoothly, he plans to refine and document each step during his term.

“Hopefully, out of this will come something a lot better,” Wang said. “Moving forward, we’ll have institutional memory so that the next VP Finance knows exactly what to do instead of creating a process from scratch.”

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